The narrow way of love and the cross we carry
This road of love is not an easy one to follow. But it is, I believe, the narrow road that Jesus spoke about. The way of love is so much more than living a 'clean' or 'moral' life or having 'the right beliefs'. Jesus spoke pretty clearly about that when he discussed whitewashed tombs ( Matt 23:27-28 ). 'Living right' is sometimes not much more than outward appearances that can become, if we let them (Lord, forgive me, because I have let them) leverage for pride. I may smile at someone while inside criticizing them. I may go to church and pay a tithe and remain faithful to my spouse (all of which are hugely honorable) but at the same time my heart wallows in a life of 'anti'... It's easy to be 'anti'. It is a hard road to see every person and every creature as belonging to God and worthy of honor. It is a narrow, sometimes stifling, claustrophobic journey to be the only one in a group that is speaking 'anti-_