What if I don’t feel like loving someone?

When I was in school studying to become a pastor, a fellow student said, “Church work would be a lot easier if it weren’t for people.”  I laughed at my friend’s statement – church work is about people.  Pastors and lay persons work with people day in and day out.

Here are a just few of the places in the Bible that tell us how to relate to each other.

• “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”   (John 13:34-35)
• Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.  (Romans 12:10-11)
• Live in harmony with one another. (Romans 12:16)
• Stop passing judgment on one another. (Romans 14:13)
• Accept one another … just as Christ accepted you. (Romans 15:7)
• Serve one another in love. (Galatians 5:13)

These verses clearly tell us that the reason we exist as a God’s family is to share Jesus’ love with each other.  On the other hand, we’ve all had days when we wished the people we’re to love were more loveable.  Sometimes we grate on each other’s nerves.  We try one another’s patience and the last feeling we have for each other is warm and fuzzy.

How can flawed individuals like you and me carry out Jesus’ command to love each other?  What do we do when we don’t feel like loving someone?

Loving each other grows out of our love for God.  On our own, we can never fulfill Jesus’ command to love each other.

Flawed individuals like you and me need an inner transformation to accomplish the feats of love I read a few moments ago.  It’s too easy to avoid difficult people.  It’s too easy to stay home or switch churches.  Something deep within our hearts needs to change.

We tend to view love as a warm fuzzy feeling reserved for a select few of our friends and family.  However, God calls us to a life of holy love – a love founded on His love for us and built with decisive actions instead of feelings.

What can we do to develop this kind of love in our lives? Let me suggest a few things to get us started.

1. Admit your need for help to love others as Jesus does.
2. Believe Jesus can touch the broken place deep in you heart so you can learn to love as he commanded us to love.
3. Commit yourself to a lifelong process of reprogramming your thoughts and actions so they become like God’s holy love.

 What can you do today to show Jesus’ love to that someone who’s hard to love?

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