Love Others Even When You Don't "Feel" Like It
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:32-36 NIV)
How do we grow in loving others?
We must test the limits of our love.
Jesus says it's easy to love the lovely. It's easy to be kind to those who are kind. That's common. That's easy. But what isn't easy... is to love the unlovely... to engage the enemy with encouragement... to bless those who curse you... to pray for those who persecute you...
I believe we've too often allowed the cultural/"Disney" notion that true love is a "feeling" that one can feel and that somehow confirms the sincerity of love and makes it true.
We think of "true loves kiss" or a "feeling of love" that bursts in our heart which somehow confirms our love. This is the kind of love we "love" (hehe). And it makes sense, who doesn't love the feeling of love. It's amazing! Those butterflies in the stomach, those warm thoughts about another person, those verbal words that lift the soul... I love it! (pun intended)
But it seems that Jesus also calls for a love that sometimes is based in ACTION, despite feelings...
So, this is actually rather simple: how do you grow in love?
Well... You wait. Just wait.
And wait.
Because sooner than later you will be in a situation where it will be DIFFICULT to love someone. (Can a Pastor get an "amen"?)
It's at that moment. That moment! That you've been given a wonderful gift from God :)
You've been given an opportunity to grow in love. It's a test, that if passed, actually GROWS you in love. That person isn't an obstacle to be ignored... they are actually an opportunity to engage!
So, you respond with an ACTION of love. You ask God to give you the heart of Christ in a situation. You repent against your natural proclivity to turn to hate, bitterness, or spite. You "crucify" want you want to do in the moment, in your natural (and sinful) state, and you remind yourself of the amazing ACTION of love that Christ demonstrated for YOU.
That Jesus didn't "FEEL" like dying on the Cross (The Garden prayer tells us this, "Father if there is any other way... let this cup pass from..." - Matthew 26:39). Hebrews tells us that Christ "despised/scorned the shame" of the Cross, but He "endured it" (Hebrews 12:2).
The very Gospel of Christianity is a testament that the greatest act of love the Universe has ever witnessed was one of Someone who inexplicably chose His enemies blessing at the cost of His cursing... who chose to be tortured to death to save His torturers... to literally pray from a place of intense suffering for those persecuting Him...
Jesus loved His Father.
Jesus loved His brothers (disciples).
Jesus loved His neighbors.
Jesus loved the outcasts (Samaritans, drunks, prostitutes, tax collectors, Gentiles, and more)
Jesus loved His enemies (Pharisees and Persecutors).
THC, grow in love by loving the unlovely... even when you don't feel like it.
Your love is never more like Christ than when you love the unlovely.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:32-36 NIV)
How do we grow in loving others?
We must test the limits of our love.
Jesus says it's easy to love the lovely. It's easy to be kind to those who are kind. That's common. That's easy. But what isn't easy... is to love the unlovely... to engage the enemy with encouragement... to bless those who curse you... to pray for those who persecute you...
I believe we've too often allowed the cultural/"Disney" notion that true love is a "feeling" that one can feel and that somehow confirms the sincerity of love and makes it true.
We think of "true loves kiss" or a "feeling of love" that bursts in our heart which somehow confirms our love. This is the kind of love we "love" (hehe). And it makes sense, who doesn't love the feeling of love. It's amazing! Those butterflies in the stomach, those warm thoughts about another person, those verbal words that lift the soul... I love it! (pun intended)
But it seems that Jesus also calls for a love that sometimes is based in ACTION, despite feelings...
So, this is actually rather simple: how do you grow in love?
Well... You wait. Just wait.
And wait.
Because sooner than later you will be in a situation where it will be DIFFICULT to love someone. (Can a Pastor get an "amen"?)
It's at that moment. That moment! That you've been given a wonderful gift from God :)
You've been given an opportunity to grow in love. It's a test, that if passed, actually GROWS you in love. That person isn't an obstacle to be ignored... they are actually an opportunity to engage!
So, you respond with an ACTION of love. You ask God to give you the heart of Christ in a situation. You repent against your natural proclivity to turn to hate, bitterness, or spite. You "crucify" want you want to do in the moment, in your natural (and sinful) state, and you remind yourself of the amazing ACTION of love that Christ demonstrated for YOU.
That Jesus didn't "FEEL" like dying on the Cross (The Garden prayer tells us this, "Father if there is any other way... let this cup pass from..." - Matthew 26:39). Hebrews tells us that Christ "despised/scorned the shame" of the Cross, but He "endured it" (Hebrews 12:2).
The very Gospel of Christianity is a testament that the greatest act of love the Universe has ever witnessed was one of Someone who inexplicably chose His enemies blessing at the cost of His cursing... who chose to be tortured to death to save His torturers... to literally pray from a place of intense suffering for those persecuting Him...
Jesus loved His Father.
Jesus loved His brothers (disciples).
Jesus loved His neighbors.
Jesus loved the outcasts (Samaritans, drunks, prostitutes, tax collectors, Gentiles, and more)
Jesus loved His enemies (Pharisees and Persecutors).
THC, grow in love by loving the unlovely... even when you don't feel like it.
Your love is never more like Christ than when you love the unlovely.
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