Letting ourselves love the unlovely
This must be a type of work that Jesus encouraged us to do when He said:
I must work the works of him that sent Me, while it is day:
the night cometh, when no man can work. John 9:4
I say it is work because it is a type of work.
It is not easy to love the unlovely.
Some people are easy to love.
We connect with certain people.
We like some and not others.
Some are kind to us and respectful and they treat us how they should.
Then there are those whom we cannot stand.
Those unlovely people might be loud, abrasive, self-exalting,
or a number of other attributes.
Some qualities may bother some and not others.
The Lord can and does give us the strength we need to treat them
as we want to be treated, even though they don’t deserve it.
We might not have deserved to be treated well
before we decided to walk with the Lord
and might not deserve it now sometimes.
God wants us to be merciful and kind and gracious
to everyone we meet or come in contact with.
Even those who poke us with thorns, those who are unlovely.
They don’t have to be our enemy per se,
they could be the guy who rushed in front of you at the grocery line,
the waitress who didn’t refill your coffee soon enough,
the irresponsible dog owner at the dog park,
the politician who is against everything you are for,
the rich man who indulges himself while others are hungry.
None of these people are lovely.
They are all ugly humans.
But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them,
They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice:
for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Matthew 9:12-13
We are not going to like everyone.
Our flesh will fight against doing God’s will.
When we stand before Him and we have not been kind
to those who were unworthy of our affections,
there are no scriptures in the bible that will tell you
that it is okay to be less than kind to the terrible people we encounter.
We will still answer for every deed we did.
We will still be held responsible for our part in any encounter.
Did we pray for their soul or did we curse them?
A better question: Did we please God or did we let Him down?
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8