Every now and then, this crazy — or maybe not-so-crazy — inner part of my being wants to update my social media status with something like: I love gay people. Or, conservatives rock! Or, I am friends with some real far, far, far left liberals. Or, I love people who use government benefits, even when they are capable of getting a job. Or, let's do something nice for inmates today. Or, I love porn addicts. Or, prostitutes are nice girls.
Nothing shows our true colors like the way we feel about "some people." The disagreements. The opinions. The divisions. It's easy to put yourself on a pedestal; how much harder is it to lift up someone who stands for something with which you disagree — or something the "church" condemns? How hard is it to love them in a way that puts their needs before yours? Most of us can't handle that kind of love. It's excruciating, because our emotions are tangled up in it.
Who I love shouldn't be tied to their choices, behavior, past, mistakes, opinions, lifestyle choices, job (or lack of one), etc. It's sad when we make it about these trivial things, because we are missing out on knowing — and loving — some pretty awesome people that God would like for us to encounter!
God wants a relationship with all of the above. He loves them all. They are all at least as valuable in His eyes as you are. Maybe more. No matter how much you despise someone, that person is a child of God's. He gets to be the judge. I don't. His ways are mysterious. Mine are not, because I am human. And my heart is deceitful. Sometimes I just like to remind myself that love is complicated from our side of things. It doesn't come naturally. It takes faith and action, and love has absolutely nothing to do with how we feel. Because emotions are a dangerous way to measure love, and they prevent us from putting love in action.
Loving people has everything to do with being intentional. We don't come at it naturally, so God gave us laws that include how we are to treat others. Then He showed us that the laws still couldn't contain our feelings. That we would hate anyway. Especially if we attempted to apply the laws on others, because then we wriggle our way into the self-righteous judgement seat. Laws aren't really there to prove to others that they have faults or to compare yourself to another. Laws are designed as mirrors we use individually to look into our own sinful souls.
Once we see ourselves as guilty of violating God's laws, then we should understand why He sent Jesus. We should understand grace and how — because we get to receive it — we get to extend it. Jesus is the way. He is peace. He is truth. He is love. He showed us how to love. He became the law. And He boils down the law into two commands: Love God and love people.
Some of us struggle still. But you see, love is a choice. As such, we are bound to get tripped up by it and fall on our sinful faces. When we mess up, like God knew we would, we can ask those we love to forgive us our shortcomings and we can forgive those who put us in a box, categorize us or hate on us even when we don't deserve it. Forgiveness is both the cost of love and the gift that comes out of love. It looks like a cross from God's point of view.
Before Jesus left the world, He told His disciples to pick up their crosses and follow Him. If you believe and if you want to be a follower, then love should look like a cross from your point of view, too.
Forgiveness is love in action. I want to be forgiving, as much as I want to be forgiven. I want to be loving, even when it's hard. I want to be intentional. How about you?
No comments:
Post a Comment