Love in Action

These days I'm reading Things as They Are: Mission Work in Southern India by Amy Carmichael. As a Christian missionary, she opened an orphanage in Dohnavur and served there 55 years without a furlough. Her selfless dedication to a people so different from herself inspires me. She faced many hardships. When one young woman considering missionary service wrote to Amy to ask what it was like, Amy replied, "Missionary life is simply a chance to die."


Another quote from Amy Carmichael that I've been pondering is this:

"One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving."

It reminds me of 1 John 3:18, which has been on my heart the past couple of months: "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

As Christians we are not only called to love--we are called to act.

It makes me pause and ask myself not only "How am I loving?" but "How am I giving?"