Would you raise your hand if there is someone in your life that you don’t like? Just what I thought…. We are 100% present and in agreement. It’s difficult to love the unlovable! It’s so much easier to love people when they are nice to you.
When I’m at work, one of my jobs is to answer the phones. There are two things that I recommend for your bucket list: 1. Become partners in a business, working side by side, with your spouse. 2. Answer the phones at a church.
I can now cross both of these accomplishments off my list. Neither of these is easy to do. You learn a lot about yourself, and I can tell you that my eyes are WIDE open – trust me; you’ll never be the same after experiencing either of these things!
So why am I writing about this today? Don’t tell anybody, but sometimes I’ve been the unlovable one. Yikes, thankfully, God is love and He is in the process of teaching me how to love well. (1 John 4:7-21) God brings it all into focus in verse 21 “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
Really God? What about the salesman that calls the church and lies, yes, blatantly lies to me. Yesterday, no kidding, a man called; his voice excited; needing to talk to our custodian about a lighting emergency. You know the type—the voice is 5 levels higher than normal and if I don’t act immediately upon his request, well the whole building may fall down! I kid you not. When I finally got him calmed down so I could understand what he wanted, it was all a fake to rattle me. He used the emergency tone of voice to pitch a sales call. Where is the love in that?
But God tells me that ‘to love others’ is a priority of His. Without it, all my interactions are for nothing.
I remember how much my young children hated chores. I mean, oh dear Lord, my husband and I sometimes wanted to just do their chores so we wouldn’t hear the whimpering and whining that went with it.
As parents, we try to teach our children the responsibilities of life early on, so they will be equipped to handle the larger chores of adult life. And at the same time, we are teaching them how to demonstrate a loving attitude while doing a chore that is not fun or cooperating with a sibling they don’t like at the moment.
But here’s the problem. Have you read a newspaper lately? Have you seen the nightly news or what we cannot get away from on the internet? If God’s Greatest Commandment, found in Matthew 22:36-40, tells us ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Then why don’t we? I suggest the reason we don’t is because we’ve begun to detach ourselves from the weariness of so much brokenness and moral decay that we tune it out.
Take a look at what the Bible tells us what people will be like in the last days. ‘People will be lovers of themselves….’ (2 Timothy 3) I researched the Greek Lexicon to get a more narrow meaning. The Greek word is ‘Philautos’ (fil'-ow-tos) or someone ‘too intent on one's interest, selfish.’
Sadly, we all know people like my ‘emergency caller.’ He was someone trying to make things easier for himself and not thinking about me. How do we respond to these people? Perhaps they are a family member, a child, a spouse? I’m so glad that my emergency caller was not someone I knew. But even then, I am to respond in love. Can’t I let myself off the hook with sandpaper, lying people? No, especially not with them…they especially need to see Jesus in us.
As God continues to use me in my job, He is also changing me and showing me how to love well. Are you up for the challenge?
Let’s pray. Dear Heavenly Father, change me. Make me a more patient and loving person. Help me with the unloving people that come into my life. Help me not to grumble or question their selfish motives. Make me to be a light in this dark world. I love you God, and I want to be obedient in loving others the way You love me especially when I am unloving. I praise You and give You all the glory. In Your Son Jesus’ strong Name, I pray. Amen.
Until next time~
Blessings, Nancy
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