Unloveable part 1
I generally don't like to attack things. I think the only fight we need to concern ourselves with is the good fight of faith. You know, laying hold of eternal life. Receiving (and releasing) the gift we've been given. But sometimes I see something that, as my younger brother would say, really grinds my gears. And usually I'll let it go. I try not to get worked up over stuff. But this particular idea keeps cropping up. Like it's one of the blocks our current version of "Christianity" is being built on. And whether or not it's necessarily my "job" to kick this certain table over... I feel pretty stongly about it. So I'm going to at least say my peace about it. Ok. Ready? This is what I hear. A lot. "You have to get the negative people out of our life or they'll drag you down to their level." And, on the surface, that seems like good, sage, wise advise. Things like, "You the CEO of your life. You have power over the personnel in it. Hire positive people and fire negative people" seem to be in our faces all the time. Everywhere we look it's all about getting more good and getting rid of evil. Guys... do you see where I'm going with this? We are not supposed to discern BETWEEN good and evil and try to maximize one and minimize the other. Look at Hebrews 5:14, "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." We are supposed to discern BOTH good and evil. We are supposed to see that BOTH good and evil come from the same tree. The tree of death. And we are supposed to eat ONLY from the Tree of Life! And the fruit of the Tree of Life is the Fruit of the Spirit, which is love. Let me say what I'm trying to say in a different way: If someone is unloveable, and you don't love them, who do you think will? If someone is negative, and you kick them to the curb... what do you think will happen to them? Do you think being rejected by you will make them less negative? Or do you think the hurt and the bitterness that makes them negative in the first place will simply feed and grow? Let me say it another way, "When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners"" (Mark 2:17 NLT). Everybody needs love. Not just those that are loveable, or likeable. Everybody. And those that aren't getting it need it the most! Sick people need a doctor. Unloveable people need love. And true love is not about what you can get from someone, it's about what you can give to someone. You don't love people because it's easy, or because THEY are easy to love. You love people because God first loved you. You receive His love and release it. You don't arbitrarily choose who "deserves" love, who "deserves" to be in your life, and who doesn't. You just love. Because you've been filled to overflowing WITH love. Because, just like Daddy, that's not just what you do. That's who you are!