Love is a big word

Written by Zhey Chua |Posted on May 28, 2008 | Comments

This morning, my daily devotional prompted me to read Romans 12:9-21 for further studies. I turned my bible to the appointed section and it read:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is the attitude that the Lord wants for us to have towards each other. Love, love without boundaries, love without conditions, love despite and inspite of, love devoid of bureaucracy, hierarchy, position, belief, conviction and so on…

Dr. John MacArthur’s Drawing Near pointed out how Simon, a zealot (syn: political activist), and Matthew, a tax collector, were able to go beyond the boundaries of their differences and come together to minister to the people. They have transcended their own human and worldly convictions, beliefs and principles to unite for a more worthy, heavenly and eternal cause. Of course, all this would not have been made possible without Christ’s intervention: “But Christ broke through their differences, taught them to love each other, and used them for His glory” futhers the book.

Ahh, love is such a big word, isn’t it? I myself struggle to love people whose guts I cannot take. I do have a problem sharing love to those who are hostile, indifferent and arrogant. I find it extremely intolerable to love those whose beliefs are in the opposite direction of mine. Well, maybe because I, too, am arrogant, hostile, indifferent, uncaring, intolerable, incorrigible and too spunky sometimes. I once heard someone say “love begets love”, therefore, “arrogance begets arrogance”, “indifference begets indifference” and so forth, huh?

But then again, isn’t this where the challenge to want to go further in this journey towards Christ-likeness begins? Yeah, love may be too enormous for me at this point, but what reason do I have not to work on it and ask for God’s grace to give me the heart to love even those that my weak human mind can not?