I recently heard a very challenging sermon given at my church, by guest speaker Caleb Kaltenbach, entitled: From “Grace OR Truth” to “Grace AND Truth.” (You can find the file to watch/download at calvary.ch if you are interested.) After listening and reflecting on some of my own life experiences, I was inspired to write a poem.

And I think sharing it today would be a great way to wrap up this month of posts about loving others. For Jesus showed by example that anyone who would follow Him must love as He loved (and still loves).

That’s relatively easy to do when we’re loving someone who we trust or who shares our interests or who is nice or who puts/keeps us in a good mood or who will do something wonderful for us. But it’s pretty stinkin’ hard to love someone who doesn’t like us or who has views opposite our own or who knows how to push our buttons or who hurts us with their words/actions or who always brings some inconvenience into our lives.

Yet the second group, those are the ones we are especially called to love, and who arguably need love the most. In fact, if we are honest, we’ll admit we have certainly been in that second group for someone else–and perhaps we still are.

As Caleb said, it’s not easy, but real “love is the tension of grace and truth.” So the next time you’re having a hard time loving someone, perhaps you can join me in this practice: envision yourself inviting them to meet you on a bridge where the tension of those two all-important virtues spans a chasm of hate and divisiveness.

The Bridge

(John 1:4, John 10:10, Psalm 36:9, 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, Psalm 2:11-12, 1 Timothy 6:18-19)

Hello, it’s me, the one who refuses to give up,
the one reaching out an imperfect hand,
who wants to forgive and start speaking again.

I love you enough to want your best
even when your best is the harder choice.
I pray you’ll hear that love shine through
where truth and grace meet in my voice.

You were meant for something far greater than this.
Please meet me on the bridge.

Hello, it’s me, one who didn’t make the laws,
one who has no right to play the Judge,
but one who can tell how His pardon comes.

I love you enough to want your best
even when your best is the harder choice.
I pray you’ll hear that love shine through
where truth and grace meet in my voice.

You were meant to be renewed and cleansed.
Please meet me on the bridge.

Hello, it’s me, the one who weeps at beauty’s kiss,
one who found light, light to shatter the dark,
who now holds up that beacon from my heart.

I love you enough to want your best
even when your best is the harder choice.
I pray you’ll hear that love shine through
where truth and grace meet in my voice.

You were meant to grasp life and truly live.
Please meet me on the bridge.