Hold Fast and Love

by Sam

Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved. This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:12-14

It can be easy to get swept up into the endless stream of scandalous news, violent attacks, and horrible acts of people around the world. One might lose heart at the condition of the world. One might wonder “What is God doing? Where is His Love? What can I do?”

A story I read recently was about a woman named Adele in during the genocide in Rwanda. During the war, Adele saw her husband hacked to death by rebels. He prayed for the people attacking them as he died. Her wrist was chopped nearly off and she was struck in the head and left for dead. It took her 3 years to heal physically.

Once Adele got out of the hospital she had a decision to make. She could choose to let her love grow cold and become a bitter, angry, resentful widow. But she didn’t want to let her husband’s prayers go in vain. She started to go to the prisons filled with murderers from the war. She brought food and blankets to the prisoners and studied the Bible with them.

One day in prison a young man named Luis came to her and started kissing her feet. The man asked if she remembered him. It was the young man who had killed her husband and mutilated her body. He asked, “would you forgive me?” She led him on his feet and then hugged him in her arms. “In the name of Jesus, I forgive you,” she said. She studied the Bible with him and 6 months later he was baptized.

After a few years Luis was released from prison. But his family had been killed in the genocide so he had nowhere to go. Adele went and adopted Luis. The woman adopted the boy who had mutilated her body and viciously murdered her husband before her eyes. Why? Because she had the love of Jesus in her heart.

When you see sin multiplying around you, hold fast to Jesus. Let Him fill you with His Spirit that your love may not grow cold.