January 11, 2015

Be Kind

 

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

-- Matthew 5:44

Some people are just hard to love. They are. And yet we are called to love them anyway.

I am participating in a church-wide study on what it means to be a church member. Today's topic was on unity. Don't gossip. Be kind. Be compassionate. Don't always expect to get your way on music, sermon times, budget matters or anything else.

It also means forgiving people who have done you wrong, whether they know it or not. Because sometimes people hurt us without even realizing that they have done so. And sometimes they do it intentionally. That brings me back to my original comment: Some people are just hard to love.

Many of us have folks like that in our lives. It might be a church member who criticizes everything. It could be a co-worker who always takes credit for your work. It might be a neighbor who lets his dog poop on your lawn -- again and again. It could be a family member who is so self-focused that he or she can't see anyone else.

There are no easy answers. No quick fixes. No magic wands to make it all better. Sometimes we can distance ourselves from difficult people. Sometimes we are well and truly stuck. Such is the case with family members. That includes our church family.

As members of the church, we are all humans struggling to get it right. And failing every single day. How we treat others, how we build unity within, reflects outward as well. There are few things as sad as a church split apart by dissension. If we can't get along with each other, how can we love and tend to a hostile world? We can't.

Jesus tells us to love everyone. Kindness deflates more anger than attitude. Compassion turns more hearts than harsh words. Love reflects Jesus. It's that simple and it's that hard.

We'd at least like for difficult people to acknowledge that they are difficult. We'd like for them to appreciate our efforts. They don't. Because they don't see beyond themselves. Do we want to be like them? Or do we want to be like Jesus?

So let it go when someone is critical. Refuse to participate in gossip. Be kind to those who don't deserve it. Why? Because Jesus has been kind to us and we don't deserve it either.