Tuesday, 10 September 2019

Love Thoughts (Once again)


  “Then the Lord said…”Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” Jonah 4:11

  It’s the kind of morning I feel like I have a long way to go.
  Sunday’s sermon contained an encouragement to love our enemies just as God loves us. It’s what the the story of Jonah is all about. Yet in Jonah, we don’t know the end of the story. Did he relent of his attitude towards the Ninevites? Did God’s words encourage him to let go of his hatred towards them?
  Hmmm…that’ a grace filled word…encourage. God knows I don’t always get this loving my enemies right. But He also knows when I do. He also guides the journey to get me to the point I can let go of the hurt and hate towards those who have done me harm.
  It’s a process isn’t it? Some days I can love better than others.
  That’s encouraging. (Smile.)

  How do you love someone you can’t stand to be around for whatever reason be it personality or because of past history. What if it’s an unidentified aversion, an intuition kind of thing? Or am I getting love and trust mixed up.
  Is it possible to love someone without trusting them?
  What would that look like?

  What about the teaching…not sure of the reference…when a believer sins, we are to go to them. If they don’t take correction, we take it to the elders. If that person still fails to mend their ways, they are to be sent away.
  What is the connection to Jesus sitting with tax collectors?
Jesus poured out His love on the most hated group of people in the day. Some of the tax collectors repented and turned to Jesus (Mathew being the most notable.)

  Love sometimes means walking away. When do we walk away from non-believers? Or do we?
  I say yes. Sometimes it's necessary. God Himself has turned away and left people to continue on in their merry ole way.
  How it must grieve Him! Hmm…there’s another form of love.
    
  When I first became a Christian, God didn’t pour out His full on agape love. I would have run screaming for the hills, utterly terrified because of my broken understanding of what love is. (Smile. It’s still broken but piece by piece it’s improving.)
  So maybe all the love I can muster is not wishing harm on my enemies. That’s an encouraging sign because there was a time…yah…I surprised myself about just how nasty I could be. It almost made me sick. But the good thing about having shared this nastiness with God is I came to realize holding on to such feelings had the same effect as if I had drunk arsenic. It poisoned my soul.
  Maybe that’s the first step towards loving our enemies: stop hating them.
  Because I bet there are people out there who hate me as an enemy, too.

  Maybe I need to stop being so intellectual about love and simply let God unfold it in my heart. AMEN!

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