Love them like Jesus

When people are faced with sorrows that are so great that they can’t bear them alone, they need someone to be there with them. Having seen the effects of ineffective coping during my clinical rotations lately, where the family avoids the patients because they can’t handle it, makes me sad. It leaves the patient to deal with this all alone. And facing such tough situations alone has to be the worst case scenario for any age, especially the very young. It breaks my heart to hear the cries of a five year old who longs for her parent to no avail. What can you do? You want to take them home with you and take care of them. But that may not be feasible. I think the words I heard the other morning driving to the hospital are so true: “Just be there”. That’s the best thing you can do in that situation. Show them that someone really truly cares for them. That they are not all alone. That someone loves them enough to invest their precious time in them.
The words of a Casting Crowns song come to mind
“Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him, his yoke is easy, his burden is light. You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions, just know that He loves them and stay by their side. Just love them like Jesus”
It’s so true. When you just don’t know how to help someone, when all you can say just seems hollow, all we need to do is just love them. When faced with great sorrow, either due to the loss of a loved one or the threat of a serious medical issue, what can you say? Even if you’ve been in a similar situation, this one is different. Nothing you can say will do it justice. Just being there, just giving that person a hug or just sitting quietly next to them and lending moral support is so important. Even shedding tears with them is helpful. Investing yourself completely in that person’s life. To love them, just like Jesus loves them. That’s what we’re commanded to do. And that’s what our heart should lead us to do, if we love Jesus. Loving people flows out of our love for God. Those two are inseparable. Making a difference and “changing the world one heartbeat at a time” (Steven Curtis Chapman).