What does it mean to be ’led by love’? When I was at university studying nursing, we did a bit of an odd training exercise. We had to lead a blindfolded classmate around to learn how it feels to be blind and how to care for person who can’t see. Being led around in public by another person generated feelings of nervousness, worry and even a bit of panic, as cars and strange noises surrounded where I was walking.
Love makes all the difference to how we feel in moments of stress, anxiety and loneliness. If I didn’t trust or didn’t know the person putting the blindfold on me, I would be even more afraid! But if the blindfold was put on by someone we knew loved us, we wouldn’t have any reason to worry. Instead, we would be happy to trust and follow the person leading us. We might be excited too – perhaps there’s a birthday cake around the corner, or a surprise party!
This is the difference between being led by love or being led by fear. In my last article, we looked at biblical love and explored how much our Father in heaven loves us. We can be certain of this as the Bible tells us that God is love, which means it is His character to love. As we lean into His character of love and let Him lead our lives, it brings excitement as He leads us to the great reveal. For many, a perfect world is one in which you are surrounded by love and you fully love those around you. This is the world God has created. The trick is getting out of our own self focused way and fully loving others.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Peter Chase
College Chaplain • Pastoral Care
