You are the surgeons of the world.

When a body – a person, a church, a community, a country – is withering from the inside out, it needs a healer who can dig deep into the guts, where the disease lurks. Divisions that strike at our very souls cannot be treated with salves, pills, or pressure points. Deep divisions require deeper healing.

And you are the surgeons of the world.

He has told you what is good. He has given you the tools that can heal, the tools you must wield, your scalpels and your sutures. Our God, our very same Creator who designed our souls and bodies, has already equipped you with everything you need to heal the wounds in this fractured world.

Dear daughters and sons, what more could you ask for? What more could your Father ask of you?

Your King is Jesus. Your King alone reigns, as His Kingdom comes. What king does not desire justice to fill his lands? Laws give life when made rightly. What law does your King desire of you?

He has told you, dear child. What law could be higher or better than love? So love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you will find love washing out the gunk and junk from every area of your life.

But do not stop there. This law is your beginning, not your ending.

Your King, the Creator of your souls, has surrounded you with a host of other souls who need your love. For what kind of justice can exist in a land whose neighbors neglect to love each other?

These neighbors won’t look like you. Only you look like you, and you already love yourself. Look for those who look differently, and love them as continuously and passionately as you love yourself.

You may not know quite how to love them, but the first steps are straight-forward: treat them as you would have them treat you. Our divisions are not so deep that your neighbor no longer desires the same respect, compassion, and understanding that you crave.

Many have tried to heal by loving when it’s easy. Loving those who love you back has always been simple, a soothing salve so easy to apply to the surface.

But when it comes to digging into the guts and rooting out the rot, deeper surgery is necessary. Love that loves when no one loves back, love that reaches across divides at great risk to the self, love that refuses to quit, love that is fueled by the blood of the God who embodies every one of these qualities — this is the scalpel that can cut to the core.

And you are the surgeons of the world.

This law of love will bring about justice, the very justice your King desires. True love cannot abide injustice, for our knees eagerly bend under the weight of each other’s burdens when we love the ones who carry them.

So let your love cut deep.

You may nick an artery. You may go into shock. You may discover that you are in desperate need of surgery yourself. This is why your King has called other surgeons along with you.

Love cuts deep – both ways. Let it. This is what your King requires of you.

What else does your King require of you? Only that which He is Himself: faithful and steadfast to the end.

Deep divisions must be cleansed. Love must cut out the rot. Yet these divided sides must be sewn together in order to heal.

Many have tried to heal through quick and flashy cuts, as powerful as they are fleeting, a sword stab to the heart of the perceived problems. Yet you are surgeons, not soldiers. Your goal is a body sewn back together whole.

Healing takes time. Or perhaps better said: healing requires faithful kindness, a love that withstands the challenge of time.

Temporary kindness is easy, a pill you can swallow to feel better without much effort. One-time charity is easy to dispense.

True healing requires life change. Deep divisions may only be sutured by faithful, steadfast love, lived out through long-term relationships. You cannot live with each other and love each other without becoming more like each other. In this way you will become one, as the One who formed you will keep re-forming you until you look like Him. And He has mastered the art of three being truly one.

You are the surgeons of the world. You must cut out the rot with your love, and you must mend the wounds with your faithfulness.

It will be messy. It will be bloody. It will be risky. That’s what surgery is. It’s the only way to heal wounds this deep.

You are the surgeons of the world. This is your job. Your God has equipped you, and He will be with you every step along the way.

Finally, take courage dear children, for you are only surgeons. You are not the One who created these bodies and gave them life. Nor are you the One who accomplishes all healing. Do the tasks assigned to you, and trust the Author of Life to breathe the everlasting into them.

Walk humbly before this God. He is giving you the privilege of operating on living bodies that He has created – His people, churches, communities, and countries. He has not called you lightly.

So listen to His words, dear children! He has told you what is good.