When Love Means Safety

What language does love speak?

By what values is love defined?

Love’s values are found in being meek.

Love speaks a language that’s kind.

Self-sacrifice for others,

Is nothing about needing to be needed,

It’s about giving ourselves for our sisters and brothers,

That’s how God’s Word is heeded.

Men especially, but women too,

Lead their own by humility,

Giving the love that’s due,

Is about ending all hostility.

As a man, like so many men, I’ve so often failed the very standard I’m discussing here, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for it. Our women — our wives, mothers and daughters — need our love to be spoken in the language of safety, of trustworthiness, of being meek enough to sacrifice ourselves.

Such safety is a refuge for the vulnerable; an exemplification of God’s safe love.

But it’s not only our women who need it — or us men needing something of it from our women, though we ought to outdo each other, men for women, women for men, in the doing of our love.

It’s our kids that need it, first and foremost.

If us men can love our women — our wives, mothers and daughters — then there’s a massive positive impact for our sons’ lives, too. Is there a more significant legacy to leave our sons than teaching them to respect girls and women?

Love must come first. Before rules. Before discipline. Before ‘parenting’. If love comes first the apt requisite for rules and discipline and parenting is set.

Safety means declaring a war by peace on all hostility. It’s a making of progress by the powers of love that overcome all fear and division because love never fails.