I love love. I love gushy love, cuddly love, cry on your shoulder love, fly across the world love, up at three am love.
But real love is really hard. Loving my parents, brother, fiance, and best friends can be difficult, let alone my enemies, who Jesus asks me to love, too (Matthew 5:44).
If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, Whew. I have no enemies. I’m set.
HOWEVER, the Lord has been reminding me over the last few months that while I don’t have ‘enemies’ per say, I have plenty of people I don’t like. And I ought to love them.
Yikes.
There’s a pretty well-known scripture on love that goes something like this: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
I read that, but I often think this:
Love is patient…but she asked that question three times already.
Love is kind…but he walked right into that. And it was funny!
Love does not envy, but I deserved it more, to be honest.
It does not boast or is proud, but if I can’t help but loudly exclaim my victory where others can hear, shouldn’t they be happy for me?
Do you see? But…but….but…
This hurts. When I really take a look at how I love, it WRECKS me. And then I think that even though I am so terrible at loving, and often liking, God loves me. God likes me. He has never used the word ‘but’ when it comes to loving me. He has treated me with such mercy and grace and love. He has shown patience and kindness. He showed humility and selflessness on the cross. He has protected me, given me hope, and He persevered in capturing my heart until it was finally won six years ago.
Today, my devotional was based on Hebrews 12:14 “Make every effort to live in peace with all [people] and to be holy.” Sounds like a commandment to love those I don’t like, huh?
I ask now if you would join me in my Valentine’s resolution: to love like I mean it, to love when I don’t like it because I am always unapologetically loved.
