covenant

I've been considering a lot lately the idea of willfully walking with somebody even if it opens you up to the possibility of getting hurt. What would it look like to stick by a person even if you knew it would bring frequent heartache, disappointment, and loads of frustration? There are people in my life that I feel like I need to pursue with the love of the Lord even if it rips my heart out. There are friends in my world that I know are going to let me down over and over and over and over again, but I also know it's because they need Jesus. I know they need to be pursued with real love, even if it kills me. But my question is can I truly embody the love of Christ? Can I be Jesus in the flesh to somebody else? Can you imagine being Christ? The man took on the sins, faults, wrong-doings, pain, heartache, hate, ugliness, shortcomings, anger, etc, etc, etc, of ALL of humanity. What if I tried to do that with just a handful of my loved ones? I know I'm not strong enough to do it on my own because it would break my heart, but if I stay centered on Jesus maybe He can do it through me. I know a LOT of people would never understand this concept because we are so ingrained with the idea of looking out for number one, protecting ourselves, but that's ok because a lot of people didn't understand a lot of what Jesus said either.
Ooooh, I just want my people to know what I know, to have what I have, to love Who I love. He is so good, all the time. He will never let us down, and that's why I want to trust Him with this idea. It will NOT be an easy road and it probably takes a lot of sacrifice and patience, because people are not always willing to meet halfway. I need people to give and to let go and to open themselves up, and I believe it is possible with God, He is big enough. I think I would rather be an open book than to have a guarded heart cut off from others. Having said that, I know we are called to guard our hearts for out of it springs the issues of life (Prov. 4:23), but maybe that means I just let the Lord have and control my heart and He does as He pleases with it....I don't know but I'm sure He will show me when it's time.