Not Love

Is it possible to get along with everyone?

Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness. - 1 John 2:10-11

Today’s reading makes me think about love and hate.

I was raised never to hate anyone, but not hating someone is not the same as loving them, is it?  Love is special and personal, so how can I love people I would rather not associate with?

I guess there is love and then there is something I would call Not Love, which is a general category I can use for how I feel about everybody I don’t want to hate, but find trouble loving.

To say I not love someone sounds really bad.  How many hearts have been broken with words like those?  “Sorry, but I just don’t feel that way about you.”

Jesus makes a simple designation.  If you love your brother or sister, which I assume refers to another believer, then you are living in the light.  But if you don’t, you are in darkness.

So, we need to love those who love Christ.  That sounds doable.  But we are also told we need to love our neighbor and our enemies.  That’s tougher.

I think the problem I have is that I imagine the extreme case, the enemy, and that leads me away from love.  But maybe the process of loving everyone starts with the easy relationships and works toward the harder ones.

That way, all the Not Loved people become Loved one at a time.  As I get close enough to see each person shining in the light, it becomes easier to flip the switch from Not Loved to Loved.

Of course, they may be thinking the same about me.

I may be the outlier they are struggling to love, and they may be having even more trouble than I am.

In the end, we will all discover that in God’s eyes, we are all the same, even though each of us is unique and genuinely, unconditionally loved.  None of us is in the Not Loved category, no matter what we do or fail to do.

So, the goal is to push the edge of darkness far enough away for all to be in the light.

And we can start right here with the relationship we are in.   So, come into my light and let me into yours, and we will flip together.

More to come...