LOVING IN AN UNLOVING WORLD

Have had a gun pulled on you?  Have you been robbed?  Raped?  Shot?  Stabbed? Beaten?  Have you been in a car accident where someone lost their life?  in the military where you were wounded and your buddies did not make it?  Traumatic events change our lives in so many ways.  Fear takes over and rules our thoughts and actions.  Revenge enters our thoughts.  Love becomes a four letter word hard for us.  Victims of violent crimes, war, drunk and careless driving need love and support.

On the other hand, we feel contempt, disgust, bitterness, and hatred toward perpetrators, drunk and careless drivers, and our enemies.  Hate comes easy for we want to them suffer like we did.  They deserve punishment as much as the law will allow.  We often say "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

Then there are those who work where we do, go to church where to do, shop where we do, and drive down the same roads we do.  We may not know them personally or ever see their face.  Yet, we encounter hundreds of "other" people in our lifetime.  We miss a green light because the person in front of us is talking on the phone and doesn't see the light change and when they do, they make it through but you don't.  We hear gossip in the office about affairs in the office or who is lazy or who needs to be fired.  Your boss may take credit for something you do.  

Then there are our friends.  We spend time with them.  We may find that one of our friends is addicted to alcohol or drugs or porn.  One of our friends may tell something we asked to not share with anyone.  We may discover our spouse is having an affair with our best friend.  

How can we be loving in a world like this? Paul wrote in Romans 13

8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.  

Paul lists ways we can show our love:
1.   Clothe yourself in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2.   Bless those who persecute you
3.   Never pay back evil with evil
4.   Never take revenge; let God do that for you
5.   If your enemy is hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink

There are no easy answers, but we have the Holy Spirit of God here to show us the way!