This blog accompanies the video that can be found here.
Loving God, ok. Loving my neighbor, ok. Loving my enemy, really?
Sometimes I have a really hard time accepting Jesus’ message of love. I guess I have to ask what love means, who’s my neighbor, and, at what point does he/she become an enemy that I should love too?
I’m inclined to loving God; after all, the church says He made me, created a rather amazing world with lots of incredible blessings, and, for the most part I’ve been blessed with a good and decent life.
If loving my neighbor means that I have to respect and help my neighbor when he/she is in need or if it means helping kids or the elderly? Well, that’s a given. When I see someone who’s vulnerable and hurting, I just want to find a way to help. I think my neighbor would probably do the same for me, so why not. I get that!
Now, here’s the hard part, Jesus says “love your enemies.” I have to ask, “who is my enemy?” The person who talked bad about me and I lost my job? The driver on the road who cut me off? A terrorist who attacks the innocent? This is where I get stuck. Can I love such individuals? Really? Love my enemy? Why should I love them if they don’t love me?
But, perhaps, love means I have to pray that they find a change of heart and a road to heaven. Perhaps, love means that I have to set a better example. Perhaps, love means opening the door to dialogue so that I can understand them better, and perhaps help them consider better options to manage their anger and hurtful behavior. I’ll have to think about this. It’s not as clear as I thought…
- What does love mean?
- How have you loved in the past?