Loving the one..

"Love the one"... this simple yet profound statement was initially spoken by Heidi Baker in Mozambique. It's one of those 'nuggets' that has no limitations. It cannot be contained, persecuted, stolen, perverted or destroyed. Pure unconditional love, the way our Daddy loves us, is... perfect. 

Some have felt this love in fragments, some have grown up with it, others have only seen it as an infatuation, and still some run from it like it's a plague. My heart is to learn this kind of love. I want to first encounter and then take the deepest corners of God's heart to the teenagers on the streets of Youngstown, to the old men with their pet water buffalo on the rivers of Guilin, to the pre-teen prostitutes selling themselves like a pack of gum in front of brothels in Thailand, to the orphans and widows being baptized in water and fire in Harar, to the nations.  I want to love 'the one' and then in turn ... love the world. Unconditionally. Fully. When people deserve it and when they don't. When they're dressed up and righteous and when they're covered in dirt and smelling like sin. Wrinkled and freckled. Fancy and cheap. Hateful, angry, sad, seeking and desperate. Loving the world will cast out all fear. God, thanks for giving me this opportunity to be You to the nations.