Let's be real here. People are hard to love. Sure I love them if I haven't seen their face in a while, if they bring me sweedish fish, or do something unexpected for me. But what about all the other times? The times the go back on a commitment, times they say something rotten, times they hurt me. Intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes it's easier to love our pets. We see their innocence and love them regardless.
We hear that love is supposed to be unconditional, but how does that really work? When your in the moment and someone beats you down, how do you still love them?
Let me first tell you what fleshly Athena would do. My first reaction is to get away from the hurt. I don't want to be around people that are cutting me down! I'll find a quiet spot and try to flush out their words. And then there's my thoughts. I may begin to think hateful things about that person, and then quite often the song "Mean" by Taylor Swift pops into my head. Is this at all the right thing to do? Is this loving intentionally? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
More often then not, this is what we do. Everyone copes with difficult people differently, but our first reaction is not to love them. Maybe yours is…but mine is most definitely not. How do I change this in myself though? I do want to change, but I feel like I'll have to rip out a part of myself to transform. Maybe that's where it all begins.
The Apostle Paul says this…
"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, uge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
-Ephesians 4:1-3
So what does that mean to "bear with one another in love?" The only way we will continue to be able to be around that person is if we love them. And this means truely love them. Loving someone isn't just loving them in the good times. Truely loving them is loving them in the rough, despite their faults. This is the picture of unconditional love. This is the picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is the picture of his mercy and grace for us everyday despite our constant failures and spitting in his face.
When we change our perspective from "me me me!" to the love that Christ showed us, that's when we begin to love unconditionally. We see our own unworthiness and it really makes everyone elses faults seem a little more insignificant. We begin to forgive, which is the first step to true unconditional love.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." – 1 John 4:7-8
Because this love is unconditional, we can't expect to get anything out of it. People will continue to treat us like dirt. But love is a choice. We can choose to share to love of Christ with others or practice our fleshly hateful ways.
This has been a reoccuring staple in my life that God has been trying to teach me. It hurts to be cut down. But when we love in return, God is pleased and our treasure is much greater than any momentary pleasure we would feel from cutting them down in return. Let us choose to love intentionally!
