Step Outside a Comfort Zone of Limiting Love
I have been glued to the Winter Olympics 2022 figure skating programs for the past week, and they sweep me back into the blissful memories of my competitive and theatre on ice figure skating days. When I decided to switch from ballet to figure skating, I met with a local coach to see if she would be willing to coach me. This coach was well known in Colorado for her coaching abilities and elite and healthy skaters, yet I was not the healthiest or elitist of skaters due to my health challenges, so coaching me would be outside her comfort zone. Yet, she exemplified limitless humility by agreeing to coach me, not minding if she was seen at the rink working with a less elite skater, and always taught with kindness and grace. She could have declined coaching me or could have given me lessons half-heartedly. She could have been embarrassed to have a skater that was not as elite as most her skaters, and she could have protected herself against being the potential subject of whispers and gossip of other skaters or coaches. Yet, she yielded to her advantage, power, position, by not having limiting love, and stepping outside of her comfort zone. Her humble love touched my heart so much more than the passion for figure skating she kindled.
Christians strive eagerly to reflect the character of Christ, but we often hesitate at going beyond our comfort zone to reflect certain traits, such as humility. Humility is uncomfortable; it’s what today’s culture would refer to as “cringe-worthy.” It makes us second guess and reconsider how far we will go in certain actions and behaviors. As Luke 9:25 states, humility requires us to deny ourselves and pick up the cross of following Christ, even if it goes against what we imagined we ought to be doing in a particular moment with and for specific people.
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” – Luke 9:23 (ESV)
The root of humility is love, and love cannot flow from an evil human heart. God is love; thus, our love must stem from Him. As Ben put it, our thoughts and actions must flow through the grid of Jesus and His holy righteousness. We must ask ourselves, “Do my thoughts and actions reflect the character and love of Jesus Christ?” I would like to offer three ways that God is teaching me to shift my mindset from pride to humility and step outside my comfort zone, just as my figure skating coach did.
Study the Gospels and write down the ways Christ showed humility during His life on earth. How did He mingle with the lowly and outcast? Who did He serve? Who did He heal, feed, and dine with? With whom did He converse, even when His disciples thought it was disgraceful? He interacted with those who were typically known to be uncomfortable to be around such as tax collectors, the ill, demon possessed, and the immoral, despite what others may have thought or said of Him. Record and study these behaviors of Christ so you can apply them to people and situations in your own life.
Identify people who are in your life that you are uncomfortable to be around or embarrassed to be seen with, and work to find ways to yield to your prideful preferences. Boundaries can still exist, but do not cease to show kindness or love simply because of a personal preference such as a dislike of someone’s personality, feeling awkward due to external factors such as how they dress or speak, a disability, or their physical appearance, or the fear of how you think others may view you. Do not assume that a person will be loved by someone else, thus you see that there is no need for you to do so. You’re in people’s lives for a reason; take time to explore and act upon opportunities of showing humble love.
Be modestly introspective and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where you may need to deny yourself and pick up the cross of humility. For instance, I struggle a lot with an “I got this” attitude and am extremely quick to refuse any sort of help from anyone, even if my body is screaming for me to accept the assistance. It’s been revealed to me that this is a prideful flaw and can be quite hurtful to people. By denying someone an ability to help, I’m denying them the chance to show love and serve in a way God has gifted them. Saying “yes” to help is a huge obstacle that I am working to overcome with God’s help. When acceptance is given, it is beautiful to see how well the combination of my humility and someone else’s expression of love weaves together as we build each other up by allowing someone else to show love and receiving much needed help and character refinement all in the process of laying aside my pride.
Christ-like love has no limitations. As humility flows from love, neither should Christ-like humility have limitations. Work to set your roots in Christ, study His ways, and identify and destroy comfort zone walls in your life so that love and humility may flow freely to others. You may just find that a zone of perceived discomfort will become loved and valued so much more than the limiting comfort zone that you once lived.
~ Abi Gordon serves as Production Coordinator at LIFE Fellowship. She enjoys watercolors, photography reading, writing and spending time outdoors. She is as a native of Colorado.