Jan 10, 2012
Called to love and serve others despite of what they’ve done, or not…
Posted by Evan Whitman in Gospel Living | Comments (0)
I have never known anyone who hasn’t been hurt. All of us have been hurt. Many of us have been hurt deeply and suffer from the scars and lasting effects of pain, abuse, let down, disappointment, fill in the ____________. You get my point. Usually our common human response to pain is “They did this, or they did that”, and rightfully so, they probably did do said __________. We do suffer the consequences of others transgressions against us and I am by no means trying to diminish that. However the question I need to ask myself daily is “How have I hurt someone else by those same means?” If I am honest with myself I find that I have hurt others in the same ways they have hurt me and more. I have committed the most heinous offenses against others and ultimately against God. I am not speaking of the little “White” sins either; I have done many wretched unspeakable things in my life. Even those little “White” sins are despicable in the eyes of God.
As a follower of Christ I am called to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength and to love my neighbor as myself. This not only applies to Christians but it is a commandment to all men. This even applies when people hurt us in the most disgusting ways imaginable. Sounds hard, right? It is! Imagining having to face the thought of loving and serving someone who raped you, or murdered your spouse, kidnapped your child, etc… That’s a tough pill to swallow! I have a hard enough time loving and serving my wife and she doesn’t even do nasty things to me and I am supposed to love the person who hates me? The answer is, yes! I am a work in progress and for those who know me best can attest to this. I will give you an example: 5 years or so ago I got into it with a town nuisance who has a reputation for being a drunkard, drug addict etc… At the time I was not following Christ. We exchanged words and it got ugly. From that day forward I have hated this kid every time I saw him walking down the street. I saw him today on my way home from work and sneered at him and felt the same disdain for him as I always had and I had to stop and think for a moment. “I have committed my life to following Christ and sharing His message of love and hope in Christ dying for me yet I have hate in my heart for this kid? As a follower of Christ I am constantly challenged with how can I effectively love and serve those in need? And again I was faced with a tough question, “Are the only people I love and serve the people I love already?” Sure I have helped people and supported them in their struggles whether it was emotional or financial, but when was the last time I stood side by side with someone whom I could not stand and helped them? The answer is never. I had hate and contempt for this kid and never bothered to think of them a person created in the image of God who needs Jesus and love and support from others just as much as I do. This is a person whom God created and loves and I was so quick to just throw him to the curb with the trash because he had wronged me in the past. Biblically speaking, I am a murderer! (1 John 3:15)
I am faced with this problem. How many times have I been willing to come to my friends and families aid when they needed me, yet I am so quick to throw the rest out to the curb? These are sobering words for me, I am a conditional lover. In other words: I only love those who love me back. Fortunately Jesus is not like me, He is not a conditional lover, if He were He would not love me, yet He does love me because He loves unconditionally.
I have been so consumed with concentrating on the spec in my brother’s eye that I failed to see the log in my own eye. My advice to myself is this: Put away the telescope trying to find others wrongdoing and pull out the magnifying glass and concentrate on your own sin. Again, easier said than done, thankfully Jesus has graced us with His presence and his unending love and given us the opportunity to repent of our selfish ways.
My friends my only advice to you is this: I have hurt, I have let down, I have betrayed yet, Jesus never hurt, or let down, or betrayed anyone. In fact He followed His path marched to His death for people who hurt Him, who betrayed Him and deserted Him for our sake because He loves us that much. It’s a crazy love that I will never understand completely until the day when we are consummated as one.
Grace to all.
Posted by Evan Whitman in Gospel Living
