The God Impulse By Jack AlexanderSample

Day Three

Arms of Love

Scripture: Luke 6:36

We all carry the scars of old wounds. And no matter what station we’ve reached in life, we all feel insecure and alone at times. How desperately we yearn to hear someone say that we’re loved. That we’re safe. That everything will be all right. 

It’s simple to find love when we’re lovable. But we most need that love when we’re not lovable—when we’re feeling wretched and ugly, when we know we’re unworthy, and when our failures are laid out for the entire world to see. 

In India, many believe a huge group of people are literally unworthy of being held. They’re called “untouchables,” and even contact with the shadow of an untouchable is thought to make you unclean. I’ve spent years trying to help them. Many others have too. But among many of their own people, they’re considered truly unlovable.

India’s not alone. In every country, every stratum of society, we find people whom others treat as unlovable, untouchable. The poor. Addicts. Sons and daughters who’ve shamed their family name. Friends who’ve hurt us. Sometimes we salve our guilt by writing a check to a needy cause, but rarely do we look those we’re helping in the eye. And other times, if we’ve been hurt or made angry by a personal “untouchable,” we do nothing at all—except maybe cross to the other side of the street. 

But they don’t need our money—and they certainly don’t need our scorn, as much as they need something else: love. Pure, generous love. 

What do you call love given to the unlovable? Those arms wrapped around the untouchable? God calls it mercy. 

When God is being merciful, he’s not merely holding back his wrath; he’s extending a hand to us. He lifts us up. He takes us up in his arms. He protects us and heals us. When we’re at our absolute worst, God is at his most merciful. 

Because we know God’s mercy, God asks us to turn around and show that mercy to others. To wrap our arms around a hurting world and offer comfort. That’s the God Impulse. Because when we become a bridge to others in need, we profoundly change their lives for good. 

When has someone else’s love for you been a reflection of God’s love?