The renowned champion won every contest battle. Appearing before the beautiful princess in the spectator stands, the accomplished knight professed to her, “I pledge my undying love to you, your majesty.” “How will you prove this love?” she asked. “For you, I will win the next battle and every one after that. Each victory will be dedicated to your glory.” The wise princess looked upon the skillful knight and remarked, “If you win, you win unto your own glory and the fame of your own name, not mine. It is in your nature to win and boast of your gain. If you want to prove your unselfish love for me, you must do what is contrary to your nature. To prove your love for me, you must lose!”
This made no sense to the knight. To his frame of mind, losing proves nothing, while winning proves everything. And yet, in order to prove his real love for the princess, he laid down his own nature, his right to win and his claim to fame. The princess winced as her knight suffered blow after humiliating blow. Watching him endure great pain brought tears to her eyes with each lost battle. But at the same time it brought joy to her heart, not because he suffered, but because it proved his love was pure. So she sent word to the knight halfway through the contest, that now if he wanted to prove his love, he must win every battle that remained. Win? Now that his body was beaten and broken? Now he was to win? His head clouded by confusion, anger, and yet a determined heart, the knight set out to remain the remaining contests. And win he did, each battle that remained, proving beyond doubt that his love for the princess was pure, untainted by self-glory, and fully devoted to her. (Summary, A Knight’s Tale)
We profess our love in so many ways. If we’re honest with ourselves, we most love to profess our love in ways that gratify ourself. We love in the way we want to be loved. It is rare for someone to prove their love in a way that is contrary to their own self-pleasing nature. You’ll see it even in missions and ministry: gifted preachers give of themselves by preaching, skilled craftsman by building, talented cooks by cooking, the virtuoso singer by singing. And it makes sense. After all, we are each gifted in order to bless others with those gifts.
But there is another proving of our love that demands we act contrary to our natural abilities, talents, and gifts. It’s part of denying self and following Jesus. I remember being emotionally and spiritually moved by a younger singer who performed technically rather badly, but with such purity of heart her song reached beyond critical ears to touch my soul. I’ve enjoyed quite ordinary meals made with such extraordinary love and generosity, they sustained me beyond my appetite. A somewhat bumbling expression of faith lacked the eloquence of a trained speaker but communicated volumes to my heart. And so it is with you and me. We don’t have to be particularly accomplished or renown to prove our love, just willing to surrender our rights to another.
In describing the “proof of love” demonstrated by the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul didn’t extoll skills, talents or gifts. Rather he describes the proof of love as this:
Eagerness to help and readiness to give.
Enthusiasm that stirs one to action.
Preparation to serve.
Generosity and cheerfulness, not reluctance, in giving.
This is the description of how each of us can choose to live, purposefully as God intended. It’s a life that creates margins or room for God, the giver of our every blessing, and room for others. With such a life:
“…God is able to make all grace abound to you so that you will in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
All grace. All things. All times. All you need. Every good work.
The proof of our love is revealed in all the ways we live out our lives. Let today be proof of your love.
