Not Easy part 1
I always try to point people to the simplicity of the Gospel. The good news that Jesus gave His life for us, and to us. The good news that we are unconditionally loved by our heavenly Father. And because we ARE loved, we CAN love. Pretty simple, right? But I have never, not one time, said it was always easy. Sometimes it IS easy to love people. Because, as Jesus put it, "I tell you, her sins--and they are many--have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love" (Luke 7:47 NLT). There's a lot there, and a lot of context, but my point is... when people are nice to you, its easy to love them. Its those people who do you wrong that make it not easy. And while Jesus had an answer for that too, "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you" (Luke 6:27-28 NLT), I've found that the two hardest things in the world to do are 1. DO something you don't want to do and 2. DON'T do something you do want to do. And I've found that when someone slaps you in the face, its really hard to turn the other cheek. When someone slaps your hand away you really don't want to keep reaching out. But I've also found that when its the hardest... its the most important. Because true maturity is when you stop taking things personally. When you start to try to understand WHY they are slapping you away. And instead of giving them back what they have given you, you break the cycle and give them what YOU have. You do the hard thing, because its the right thing. And, listen, I absolutely believe you should do your best and forget the rest. I absolutely believe that if you give something everything you've got its either enough... or it isn't. My point being: Don't give up on something because its hard. But don't keep banging your head against the wall either. Sometimes you hurt (yourself and others) more by hanging on than by letting go. You can't help everybody. And I can't either. But if you give up because its not easy then I think you've given up too soon. Love is giving everything you are and everything you have regardless of the result. EVEN THOUGH it seems like the more you love the less you are loved. But watch this: those who are forgiven much, love much. So instead of judging whether or not to love someone by how easy (or not easy) it is... instead of judging people according to their appearance, or their actions... what we ought to do is judge righteous judgment. If someone does you wrong, do them RIGHT. Don't let the external define the internal. Don't be a thermometer and just take the temperature. Be a thermostat and SET the temperature. Don't worry about what came before, or what will come after. You can't control that. You CAN control what YOU do. And you can let Christ's love control you. So love them anyway. Even when its not easy. ESPECIALLY when its not easy.