Unlovable

If someone attacks you, what would you do?  Our natural reaction is to defend ourselves, or fight back.

What would Jesus say to do?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matthew 5:38-48

How can God love evil people?

If we start out thinking that way, we will never understand what Jesus is trying to teach us about loving our enemies.

Every parent has experienced that moment when the loving child he or she raised has done something wrong and they get angry.

Do they stop loving the child?  No.  In fact, it is when those we love do something horrible that we feel for them all the more.  

How can I help you?  That's what goes through the mind of a parent.  What can I do?

I imagine that is how Jesus wants us to see God, as a loving parent upset with the mix of emotions that come when a loved child does something unlovable.

What makes us perfect, like God, Jesus tells us, is seeing one another the way God sees us, and loving one another the way God loves us.

There is nothing we can do to God that will turn God against us.

That isn't true with us, though, is it?  We can and do turn against one another much more easily, and when we do, we may remain at odds forever.

I cannot imagine feeling love for someone who is harming someone I love.  More so than if I was being harmed, harming a loved one has to be the worst.

What Jesus expects from us is to think how God feels in those moments, when one of the children He loves is being harmed by another.

Loving both, He has to be torn and brought to tears.

More to come...