“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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