This week I have been challenged to love the unlovable. In Luke Jesus said this about loving those who don’t love us: “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
As Christians we are a reflection of Christ. The things we do and say put God on display to the rest of the world. Think about what a huge responsibility this is. I have to ask myself all the time if my actions and my words are turning people towards or away from Christ.
This week I have been doing and saying things that could not possibly turn anyone towards Christ. In the area of loving someone who is not so lovable I have fallen short. I have not reacted to this person as Jesus would. So I challenged myself this morning by asking myself, “What can I do to show love to this person?”
First things first, I had to swallow my pride. Next, I had to see this person as God sees them—beautifully and wonderfully made. Another thing I had to do was to pray that God would change my heart (it was pretty hard) and that He would bless this other person as well. Finally, I had to take an action step by writing this person a letter of apology for my actions and my words.
Let us remember that love is an action word. 1 John 3:18 says, “Little children let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” Love is not just all about feelings; sometimes the feelings are there and sometimes they are not. However, as Christians we are called to a higher standard of showing love to those who don’t love us. I’m not at all suggesting that we should be phony about it; but that our actions of love to others is done out of our love for Jesus and out of His example that while we were still sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
–Suzette
Gina said,
June 15, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I came across this passage two days ago and it was very convicting and I thought it went along well with this posting…
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not {merely} look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, {and} being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ” philippians 2:3-8
-Gina