To have the heart of Christ in me

Is my one goal and zeal,

But love is not a simple thing;

It’s more than what we feel.

 

I thought I loved my sister ‘til

She had something to find;

And then I learned that love demands

That I give up my time.

 

I believed I loved my brother – then

He asked for helping hands;

That’s when I learned that “love in deed”

Means diverting all my plans.

 

I thought I loved my neighbor, but

His morals need rebuke;

I realized then that love would mean

I show to him the truth.

 

I felt I loved the elderly

‘Til one sat all alone;

It’s hard to sit and talk with them,

But love seeks not her own.

 

I thought I loved the brethren, but

I’m still too quick to say –

In heart at least, if not in word –

“I’m busy; go away.”

 

When Jesus washed the apostles’ feet,

He had a goal in mind:

To demonstrate the servant’s heart

He hoped in them to find.

 

When I seek to know the love He showed,

I learn the heart of Christ;

When I lose my life for Jesus’ sake,

I’m a living sacrifice.

—Kara Glott (age 16)