A Higher Love!

A number of years ago my wife Donna and I were in a Jimmy John’s gourmet sandwich shop in Rapid City, South Dakota while on vacation. A poster on the wall beside the table where we were eating our lunch declared this sentence in bold letters: "Offer your seat to senior citizens, pregnant women, and people with guns." Nobody we could see fit either description, so we stayed put and enjoyed our sandwiches. That poster raises an important question. How are we to relate and respond to people in our lives who "rub us the wrong way," or at times act in hateful and hostile ways toward us? Or, perhaps as bad, those who are totally indifferent toward us? Jesus addresses that issue in Matthew 5:43-48 in words that are much easier to read and preach than practice. In verses 43 and 44 of that text the Son of God declared, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." It is clear as crystal this is a much higher kind of love than that practiced by those who don’t know God. I don’t want to offend anyone who claims to follow Christ, but, sadly, this is a higher kind of love than that practiced by some who call themselves Christians. Christ calls His disciples to a higher kind of love – a God-like kind of love that does good to and prays for those who might seek to use and hurt us.

I threw in with Jesus 50 years ago, and I don’t find those words any easier to practice now than I did then. Indifferent and irritating and even hostile people who are out to hurt us or at least don’t care if they hurt us are not all that scarce. And they may not be in Iraq or Iran or Afghanistan. They may be on the other side of town or the office or the living room or even on the other end of the church pew. If they hate us we face a choice – hate them back, or love them. If people curse and hurt us, Jesus makes the choice we face clear – curse them back, or bless them; return their spite, or pray for them. If we love and do them good, they may soften and become more loving and kind, or they may not. But one thing is sure – loving unloving people, as Christ modeled and taught by His life and His death, will make us better people, more Christ-like people, every time it happens.
Francis Bacon said, "A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green." Someone has astutely observed there are four possible responses when someone does you wrong: #1 Curse it. #2 Nurse it. #3 Rehearse it. #4 Reverse it. We can fight fire with fire, but as the old saying goes that only makes the fire twice as hot. At the cross of Christ hate-filled men spit on, cursed, abused, slapped and then crucified the only sinless Man who ever walked on　Planet Earth. Luke 23:34 reminds us Jesus practiced a higher love. From the cross He prayed for those crucifying Him – "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." How can we love and forgive our enemies when we find it hard to love family and friends and folks we share a pew with on Sunday mornings? I don’t know but one way we can do it, and that is with God’s help. Let’s pursue and practice God’s higher love . Only then can we ever hope to overcome the hellish hostility the devil continues to promote and produce in our world. 

 – Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN