Your Love Is Carrying
by Raechel Roman
“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers…”
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
I’ve noticed there are at least two kinds of busy seasons. There’s a busy season that feels exciting, fun, and encouraging, and there’s one that feels overwhelming and discouraging. Being busy can feel productive, hopeful, and inspiring, but even someone who loves a good busy season can become weary.
Sometimes the difficult kind of busy season comes too soon after another busy season or follows a loss or major disruption, such as a financial loss, a new health condition, or persistent tension in an important relationship. Even the most optimistic, high-energy person can experience fatigue and discouragement when life brings loss or disruption.
Since attending PLC, one of the most impressive things I’ve witnessed is the church’s resilience through busy seasons. Sometimes it feels like one busy season after another, and I think that’s beautiful because every busy season becomes another opportunity to love one another, love our community, and share the good news of Jesus Christ. This is why I want to highlight 1 Thessalonians 4:9–10. These passages hit home to my very core about what I love about PLC. At PLC, there is a beauty that is so glorious about how PLC lives out love that sometimes I enjoy standing on the sidelines and giving praise to God as I witness His Word play out before my very eyes. The people of PLC have been taught by God how to love.
We have lots of busy seasons because love is an action. Love is something we do, and when we love one another, our actions can reflect the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I love how Paul essentially says, “You’re doing it!” But no one person has to do everything all the time. We share the tasks and many hands make light work. It's encouraging and uplifting to see others be blessed, and we often experience the feeling of being loved and loving others.
We might do a lot but we are not perfect, we’re family through Jesus. The Greek word Paul uses for brothers is adelphos, a word connected with the idea of sharing a womb. Isn’t that awesome? Paul is reminding us that we belong to the same family through Jesus. We come from different backgrounds, but we are being knitted together by our Father in Heaven. “Beautifully and wonderfully made.” Yes, you are, and you love well!
It takes courage and strength to love each other in a big family. While loving each other, you get to know each other’s battles, challenges, and trials. We get to witness the inner struggles and temptations our brothers and sisters face as they push back the darkness and walk in the light of Jesus Christ. And when we know each other that deeply, we begin to carry one another’s burdens as though they are our own.
Carrying other people’s burdens can be very rewarding, but it can also become messy. Just like a cold can spread from one household to another, so can the struggles we face. My bad habit could become someone else’s bad habit, and vice versa. Or someone else’s difficult season can become something we help carry. When it comes to people we don’t always know how things will turn out and sometimes it seems like it would be easier to protect ourselves by keeping our distance, especially when we’re already tired, but love invites us to lean in rather than to isolate ourselves. We all have a choice about how we will respond within the family and according to each individual situation.
From my observation, the PLC family does this really well because meeting everyone’s needs ourselves is impossible, but we have faith that Jesus can meet all of the immeasurable and never-ending needs for everyone in the family. Only Jesus can love this much, and He does. He loves us and takes care of us Himself, and He loves us through sharing love with each other, too! Sometimes, it means we listen, notice, help, encourage, invest in, or show up for others, but we remember that we are not the Savior, so it’s okay to receive from others, too.
This is how we keep going through busy seasons. We don't have to be endlessly strong, and we don't have to carry everything ourselves. We have a family who helps carry the burdens, and we have a Savior who can carry what we cannot.
If you’re feeling tired or sad, don’t grow weary in well-doing. You have a big family who loves you and a Big God who can meet all of your needs! Trust Him with the things that feel too heavy, receive the love He sends through your brothers and sisters, and keep walking with Him one day at a time. Reconciliation, recovery, and restoration are still ahead, and in whatever season you are in, goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Prayer
Father, Thank You for my family through Your Son Jesus Christ! I’m so grateful for You and all of Your children. I pray that You bless, encourage, strengthen, and fill each person up with Your love! Please continue to unite us together and teach us how to grow in the fruits of the Spirit through relationships. We honor You and praise You and ask that Your Son’s name be blessed in all the earth. We ask all these things in Jesus’ name, Amen!