The hardest prayer I ever prayed was, “Whatever it takes, Lord, align my desires with yours, so that my dreams align with your purposes. Let your will be done through me.”

But I miss you so badly.

On rare occasion you’ll come across someone whose heart and passion will steal the breath right out of your lungs. This person lives this in the rarest, realest, and most Jesus-revolutionary way. A life testified to an intimate love affair with Jesus that births a hope that cannot disappoint. A life lived with courage and faith, with integrity and intention, with love and passion.

As we put on the eyes and heart of Christ, we should increasingly be able to see through all the temporary and fading appearances to the things that are truly beautiful — the qualities in each other that imitate Jesus and anticipate heaven. The qualities that get better with age.

“It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9–11).