Amy and #LoveIsLearned

#LoveIsLearned

Love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18; Lev 19:34; Mt 19:19; Mt 22:39; Mk 12:31; Lk 10:27; Romans 13:9; Gal 5:14; James 2:8)

Content warning: interpersonal violence

My child came home from high school wearing a t-shirt with the logo and name of the One Love Foundation and their tagline #LoveIsLearned.

One Love is dedicated to teaching young people about healthy and unhealthy patterns in intimate relationships so they can recognize abusive behavior and protect themselves and others. You can read more about their work and mission here

Seeing #LoveIsLearned on my child's body was an epiphany - a manifestation of the love of God right in front of my eyes.

Isn't Scripture itself a record of God's people learning how and who to love? Aren't the stories of God's people stories of the living God reaching out to us over and over and over and over again in the eternal hope that we as human beings will learn to love one another and all creation as God loves us?

Scripture has sometimes been misused by those who claim to love us - partners, friends, family members, even the institutional church itself - that we must endure abuse and harm, that enduring suffering at the hands of someone else is in fact "loving" our neighbor.

Neighbor love never means our abuse and harm - ever. Love of God never means our abuse and harm - ever. Love never means coercion of any kind.

It is in fact an act of love to set strong boundaries that protect ourselves, our health, our communities, and the most vulnerable among us from those who are not in a place where they can learn to love in a healthy way. It is an act of profound love of God, self, and neighbor to create and nurture safe communities.