Commanded to Love

If you call yourself a Christian and are not loving your enemies, you're a joke. Just let me state that flat out. It was one of Christ's commands in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:43). He didn't say, "tolerate your enemies," "ignore those who are displeasing to you," or "give someone you disagree with the silent treatment." No, He said plain and simple, love them. LOVE THEM.

I am sure you are detecting a note of frustration in my voice. I am so very, very tired of people calling themselves Christians and finding all manner of ways to dismiss those they just don't like. I have been treated kinder, frankly, by non-Christians than people who call themselves Christians and smile to my face, while their behavior is blatantly opposite to what Christ commands.

Our Father calls us to be honest, compassionate peacemakers and He even gives us a formula for its success. First, Christ tells us in Matt 5:23-24 that we are required to reconcile with our brother or sister before we bring our gifts to the altar. Second, He tells us to forgive this person so our Father will forgive our sins. And thirdly, if we catch someone in a sin, we're to point out the person's fault and if they listen, all is well, but if they don't, take one or two witnesses along so the matter can be rectified. There's even a final option about getting the church evolved in Matt. 18:15-17. Therefore, based on all three of those Scriptural guidelines, we Christians should be resolving conflicts, forgiving one another and loving one another. But if even the forgiveness is coming slowly, we are above all, to love.

There. I know I feel much better getting all that out. And honestly, I don't follow all the above perfectly all the time. But I strive to, and praise Jesus, have an accountability group that calls me on the moments I am not doing as such. But if I don't see my Christian brothers and sisters working to reconcile, then I just plain and simple don't believe they are following the commands of Christ. They may be building walls around themselves or removing themselves from different things thinking they are protecting themselves from further harm. But that is folly. It's simply Satan isolating that person from the loving, reconciliation that Christ encourages. I know because I was there, doing that isolation bit, when all it did was make me more bitter, lonely and heartbroken.

If you love Jesus and owe your life to Him, He had a command that He considered second only to loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength (Deut 6:5), and that was to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev. 19:18) - and that doesn't mean just Christian ones. When we stand before His throne we will be accountable to Him.

So stop faking it. Stop metaphorically stabbing people in the back when they aren't around. Stop eliminating souls from your life thinking that is how you will guard your heart. Stop rolling your eyes at people you disagree with. Stop pitying yourself. Stop being so arrogant that you believe you alone have been wounded or are sin free. Stop looking for reasons to dislike someone God created in His image and was willing to die for. In the name of Christ Jesus, stop it.

And start being who Christ commanded ... Him.

The Right Tool For The Job

Several months ago, both of my children, at separate times, approached me about a situation in their life dealing with an acquaintance. Each of them had a relationship where someone was doing something that was annoying them. I remember asking each of them at the time, "Is this thing something worth losing a friendship over, or is it something you can just put behind you?" Both thought about that question and decided the annoyance was not worth losing a friendship over and moved on in love.

See, I'm pretty sure in friendships - and marriages for that matter - Satan tries to bring bubbly little annoyances to the surface to see if they will boil over in an effort to destroy those relationships. Correction: I'm not pretty sure, I'm certain of it. How many times in your life have things happened where someone says or does something that just drives you crazy? Then you notice something else, and something else, to the point where you wonder why you've even associated with this person at all.

Recently I commented to a co-worker about someone who did something I was frustrated with. She said to me, "Don't you let Satan use you as a tool." That was all she said. No empathy. No sympathy. No "That's terrible, so what are you gonna do about it?" Just one deeply profound sentence. And I realized I was going through the same thing my children had talked about. I was being used as a tool of destruction. I went home that night and prayed God would help me put that ridiculous thing behind me to focus on the beautiful, positive things.

I have lost relationships in the past by being used as a tool, or being on the receiving end of another being used as such. Was it worth it? Christ said the second greatest commandment was to love our neighbors as ourselves. He was quoting something God told Moses back in Lev. 19:18. I think we as Christians, need to access situations before letting them get legs of destruction. Whatever little thing is bothering you, is it worth losing a friend or even acquaintance over? It may be this very person is going to team up with you to do great things for Jesus or you may be doing so already, and Satan just won't have that. Learn to see as Christ sees. Learn to listen as He listens. Forgive as He forgives. Love as He loves.

Don't allow yourself to be a tool ... unless - as it says in 1 Thess. 5:11 - it's one of grace for Christ in building one another up. Heaven knows this world could use a whole toolbox full of those.

2 Cor. 13:11 "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."