Cry of the Unlovables
How do you love those the world hates?
For several seasons now, God has given me a word for the year to ponder and live out. One year, He gave me “Bless.” I had no idea of the hardship that upcoming 365 days would bring me, but I will tell you there were moments I wished He had instead given me the word “slap” or “spit.” Yet God knew exactly which word I’d need to keep me on the right track through the trials.
Only by God’s supernatural grace was I able to Bless when mistreated, when slandered, and the day I was cussed out. I blessed despite being callously intimidated by a toxic “friend” and abandoned in anger. I even blessed after an 8-month accumulation of mistreatment landed me in the ER with chest pain (stress-induced pericarditis). No one’s perfect, and I had my faltering moments during bless.
The truth God revealed about His great love toward people during that year of bless made it worth the pain. I witnessed firsthand His love for the unloveable, His kindness toward the ungrateful, His patience toward the unjust, and His compassion toward the mentally sick and cowardly. He taught me to love those who acted atrociously “un-lovable.” Not I, but God, and He is perfect in all He does, despite our failures! (Or, despite me crying, ‘Just this once, let me spit and kick!’).
My Jesus died for the wicked,
a love that’s too great to fully understand.
A love few accept.
.
Let’s redefine “die” for us as “die to self.”
What human would dare “die” for the one who slandered him? Would you “die” to help reform the human trafficker? The liar, addict, stealer, cheater, betrayer, the mentally ill, or an adulteress … Each one, delicately knit together with divine purpose in their mother’s womb.
From that warm womb into precious newborns … led astray by man. Abused. Survived their own hell. Now they do unto others worse than what was done to them. They knew only one way to exist. Who here on earth will love them?
A scandalous love! Christ died for 100% of the lost and the ungodly.
⇒Not a suicide mission to take lives, but a sacrificial mission to restore life 100%.
⇒He offers 100% freedom to anyone who wants out of the toxic living conditions we have built according to our own evil thoughts and misaligned beliefs.
For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves. Now, who of us would dare to die for the sake of a wicked person? We can all understand if someone was willing to die for a truly noble person. But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!
Romans 5:6-8
“Lost and ungodly” — How ugly is that?! I envision some skid row place full of zombie-like people wandering aimlessly… Outside of God’s grace & presence, don’t we all exist in a spiritual skid row?
Even if you occasionally spit or kick…
Are you willing to prove God’s passionate love?
Can you love the unloveables within your circle of influence?
Do you love the “evil and unthankful” who share your world?
Ask our generous God who supplies all our needs in Christ for a fresh revelation of His grace.
The dirty work was done on the cross; we need only enforce it as Christ’s ambassadors.
If you listed on paper the evidence of your love,
how many lines would it take?
The Way of the Embattled Spirit
NOTE: This post does not discount the need in many situations for healthy boundaries <-click to read
Sacrificial living.
Giving until it hurts.
Showing kindness to the undeserving.
Serving for the sake of serving, not recognition.
Gift-giving … in secret.
. . .What can you add to this list?
