If we are honest with ourselves we can all think of people from different parts of our life that have been hard to love. Examples could be that one person from high school who sought to make your life miserable each day, the neighbor who is always starting trouble, the co-worker that is always pointing out your flaws, or that one family member who is always telling you you are not good enough. Of course there are also extreme examples of those who are hard to love like people who commit murder or those who participate in terrible acts of violence. However, the unlovable may not necessarily be someone that is considered an enemy, but rather an outcast. Maybe befriending and loving that person would make you uncomfortable and force you to step out of your comfort zone. As Christians, the Bible speaks specifically to this topic. God is very clear in His command throughout the Word that we are to love everyone.
No matter who you consider unlovable, or what they have done — God calls us to love them anyway.
I know from personal experience that can be a hard pill to swallow. Certainly God cannot expect me to love someone who made fun of me everyday for years, and made me out to be a laughingstock right? Wrong. In Mark 12:31 Jesus gives the command to, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Also, Matthew 5:44 states, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus was the perfect example of this. He was persecuted and scorned but He still loved. In John 13 when Jesus washed the disciples feet He knew that some of them in that room would later betray Him. However, He still served and showed them love.
Christ could consider each and every one of us unlovable because it was our sin that He died for, but instead He loves us with an everlasting love that we do not deserve.
Being a friend to the unlovable takes on a whole new meaning when I think of the sacrificial love of Jesus. He is the example we should follow with everyone we come in contact with. Our purpose should be to love like Jesus loves. Instead of treating others as an enemy or outcast, we should look at them from God’s perspective.
Everyone deserves to hear the Gospel and have a chance to know Jesus as their Savior. This includes our enemies, and we need to live our life in a way that would be an example of this.
Take some time right now and search your heart and ask God to show you the person in your life that has been hard to love. Ask God to give you wisdom on how to love this person, and to show you some ways to serve them.
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