Article by Tom Gilbert · © livingthesolution.com

(Note: I wrote this article some time ago, but as I examine past posts to add to the newly revised Living the Solution website I have noticed that this article was read frequently and often prompted comments. Loving others is not always easy, but it is especially difficult for those who rub us the wrong way. Yet, it was Jesus who told us that just loving those who love us is something just about anybody will do. The real test is loving the unlovable.)

I love life, it's people I can't stand!

Do you ever feel that way? We can chuckle over that statement, but if we're honest we recognize there are people we feel that way about. It's not surprising. People can be mean, cruel, insensitive and difficult. All people can. Even you. Even me.

Jesus gave us the commandment to love each other as He has loved us (John 15:12). Sure, that's easy for Him to say. He's God! He has the capacity to love. He even forgave those who crucified him while he was hanging in agony on the cross!

Why do we think it was easy for Jesus to love that way? Maybe it was…I don't know. Being divine, his capacity for love is infinite. When it comes to my loving others, no matter how unlovable they may be, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that I let Jesus in and let him love through me.

Jesus told us that he and the Father (God) are one. He also told us that he wants each of us to experience that union. That must mean that Jesus' perfect love can dwell in me and be expressed outwards to all those around me. Wow!

We really shouldn't be surprised that there are people who get under our skin and some who really just seem so rotten that we are revolted at the prospect of loving them. I'm sure there are people who've thought that about me. Remember, we are all sinners.



We Get To Change

As new creations in Christ we get to change. We become transformed by our spiritual rebirth and new way of living. Unfortunately, not everyone is delighted when you undergo that change (strange as that may seem).

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

That's more from John's gospel, chapter 15. It holds a key point. When you become a follower of Christ you are no longer part of the world's way of doing things. You've been chosen out of the world. You've turned your back on it. It's only natural that those who are still of the world will dislike, even hate, that.

As long as we are in the world we are going to experience persecution for Christian beliefs. Sometimes it will be overt, and at other times more subliminal. That should not change how we act. What we do is a reflection of what we believe, right?

Even though the world may hate what Jesus represents, God still loves the world. And the world can be pretty unlovable!

Remember,
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:16-17). 

So, no matter how unlovable some people are, remember that we've been "unlovable", too…but not to God. Let God's love express itself through you. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit (threefold help!) will do this.