When I was little we used to sing a song that said “and they will know we’re Christians by our love, by our love.”
Unfortunately, far too many Christians – including myself – have bought into our culture’s idea of love and lost sight of Love Himself. We’ve bought into the lie that love is an emotion, a feeling. Something that we can fall in and out of. I love you in this moment because you make me happy, but as soon as I’m not…well, we’ll see.
The thing about the way we use the word love today is that it’s easy. We constantly throw it around – I love this song, I love pizza, I love her she’s so funny – without any commitment. Tomorrow our tastes will change and what we loved yesterday may not make the cut.
And we transfer that easy, convenient love into the way we interact with others. We’ve made it into a selfish love that says as long as it works for me, as long as it makes me happy, I’m in.
But love – true Love, the love Jesus has called us to – is counter-cultural. It goes against the flow. It continues on in the midst of hurt. It lasts through trends and trials. It stands strong through storms and doesn’t get lost in chaos.
It’s more than loving those who love us. It’s more than treating the people we like with respect. It’s more than giving honor to those with whom we share the same opinions. It goes beyond what is easy. It goes beyond what is natural to us.
“But to you who are listening I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28 NIV)
That sounds impossible, and frankly, like no fun. Our flesh starts kicking and screaming and we feel that if we love those who hate us they somehow win. That our needs (and especially our wants) are being pushed away, swept under the rug. And that’s just not fair.
But a couple of verses later Jesus continues on, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be paid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.”
Loving our enemies is such an integral part of our Christian walk that Jesus says it twice in that short speech. Because wishy-washy, feel-good love isn’t even going to make a dent in the problems we’re facing in our world, and even in our churches. But loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, forgiving those who refuse to ask for forgiveness, breaks chains. This counter-cultural, counter-intuitive, and potentially painful love is how the world will know we are followers of a good God.
It’s not simple, and Jesus understands that. He knows He’s giving us a hard task. But He’s called us to be separate, to come up higher, to live bigger. He’s called us to what’s great, not what’s easy.
Thankfully, He doesn’t stop there; “Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” By loving when we don’t feel like it, when it’d be much easier not to, we become more like Christ.
We become more like the Man who bore our guilt, our sin, and our shame on the cross.
Obviously much can be said about the death and resurrection of Jesus. But I am truly amazed by the love that not only forgave the hypocritical crowd chanting hosanna one day and crucify Him the next, but also forgave the disciples who had abandoned Him.
The love that forgave Peter. Peter who had walked with Him for so long. Peter who had seen the miracles and walked on water. Peter who had boldly proclaimed that though the others might leave, he would never ever desert Jesus. Peter who, scared for his own life, denied even knowing Jesus three times.
Our natural mind would tell us that the only way we’ll feel better, the only way we can have closure on a situation is if there is some kind of judgement. If those who wronged us get what’s coming to them. As if it is our job to judge, our job to decide what people deserve.
But the God who knows first-hand the pain of betrayal and loss also knows that true healing only comes through forgiveness. Only comes through love.
When we choose love, we choose life. The life abundant that can only be found in Jesus.
And when we choose love, the world will see the One we follow.
whimsical impressions 
I love you Colleen! You make my heart smile just reading your writings!! I so miss you for the Tea parties. Love, Arlene