Sacrificial Love

"I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh."

(Romans 9:2-3)

Passion. Emotion. Depth of Feeling. Sincerity. Sacrifice. It's all here in these early verses from Romans 9. Paul, who "grew up" as a devout Jew (which is putting it lightly!), then experienced a conversion as an adult, and became a follower of Jesus. He ended up becoming one of the most prolific (and effective!) church planters in Christian history! Much of the New Testament are the letters he wrote to believers in the churches he helped start.

What was hard for him to deal with, however, was that most of the people who welcomed him and his message of Christ's love, acceptance & forgiveness, were non-Jews (aka "Gentiles"). his life had been radically changed for the better, and his "own people" weren't open to hearing about it.

He writes, in chapter 9, how much it pains him that his fellow Jews haven't come to know Jesus and he'd even sacrifice HIS relationship with Him, if it would bring others to the faith. Wow. That really flies in the face of the "it's-all-about-me" mentality so many of us have. What passion, emotion, depth of feeling, sincerity & sacrificial love.

(I have so much to learn...)