Loving the Unlovable~

A post Valentine's Day greeting to you all :)


I bet that those of us who spent time with someone really enjoyed their company. And I am not just talking about couples. My colleague spent it with her grown sons and aging mom. Another friend spent it with her husband and her parents.

But look at what Luke 6:32 says:

“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that...?"

Even though love is awesome and great and God's idea and a tremendous blessing, there's more to it than just lavishing it on those we find easy to shower with our affection.

Yesterday's verse about abiding in love includes including those we find unlovable. That's where the real challenge is, but when we do that, that's when we get the credit. This raises some interesting questions. Let's look at just two for now.

(Q) What kind of credit do we get?
(A) When we live in love we are assured that God then lives in us. It is precisely the act of loving the unlovable that proves to others and to us that it must be a God-thing. I have often said that the ONLY reason I did not slap so and so or send so and so to the nether regions is because Jesus is in me. If He were not in me, I might even be in jail by now. I am not joking. You didn't think you had the power to love all on your own, did you? Because you don't. It's Jesus in you that empowers you to turn the other cheek, forgive, be patient, be kind, put your own need to be loved on the back burner while you love someone back from the brink etc....What's the credit again? The reward? God is in you, and when He is in you, He is for you, above you, beneath you, beside you, around you, surrounding you, and totally into you. It's a complete and utter saturation of perfect love that is immeasurably long and deep and high and wide, and He expects you to share it. I LOVE IT! (And guess what? God loves everybody but He is not in everybody***). (And guess what again? There are more rewards to talk about).


(Q) Is all this love worth it?
(A) You tell me.

We have unleashed a giant. More on this next week.



PRAYER:

Dear Lord, Is it worth living life the way You ask us to? Is it worth loving the unlovable? Yes, it is. Give us Your strength because sometimes it's hard. We think back to a verse from a few weeks ago and ask You to quiet us with Your love and sing a song over us. No matter how grown up we think we are, we welcome being cradled in Your loving arms. At this very moment we receive Your presence and thank You for it. In Jesus name, AMEN~









***We will explore this further as well :)