Love is not always polite.

Love does not always bow
to comfort,
or whisper only what we wish to hear.

Sometimes love arrives
like a hand upon the shoulder,
turning us gently
toward a truth we would rather avoid.

Sometimes love asks more of us
than we are prepared to give.

Yet love never strips another
of their dignity.

Love does not shame,
does not belittle
does not wound
simply because it can.

Love remembers
that every soul stands
upon holy ground,
bearing mysteries
known fully only to God.

So even when love must speak
a difficult word,
love speaks with patience.
Even when it must correct,
love does not scold.
Even when it grieves,
love does not condemn.

Love is never the triumph
of one will over another,
but the quiet labor
of seeing Christ
within another’s trembling heart.

Lord, teach me this love.

When I am tempted
to be right rather than kind,
patient rather than hurried,
merciful rather than sharp,

remind me that every person I meet
is held in Your hands.

May my words never diminish
what You have created.

And may my love
(however imperfect),
leave dignity intact,
as sunlight leaves
the morning field,
touching all things
without breaking them.