“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even “sinners” love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to
you? Even “sinners” do that. And if you
lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners”
lend to “sinners”, without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will
be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:32-36
When people are rude to me, or act like they don’t care, I
automatically want to write them off. If
they can’t be nice, then I don’t want to be their friend and I just stop caring. These verses sure do contradict my humanly
inclination. Jesus calls us to love,
even when the other person is not loving, care when the other person doesn’t
care, and show mercy when we are not shown mercy. This is a tough one. In the world we
live in, instant gratification is huge.
We (guilty=me) want to see the fruits of our labor instantly. We are nice to someone; we want them to be
nice in return immediately. We do a “good
deed”, we want to see positive results.
What I am learning is we can’t change other people, only God can do that. What we can
change is ourselves through Christ, and our outlook on situations. Are we looking at situations through a Gospel
based lens? We don’t deserve Christ’s immeasurable love, but yet it is extended
to us time and time again. Praise the
Lord that love is not based on what we deserve… We are called to be imitators of
God.
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved
children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave
Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”
Ephesians 5:1-2
Love. By no means do we deserve His love, but He covers us with His love and grace time and time again.
Let us be vessels for the Lord, showing love
to all those around, without limit.
