Skip to main content

When You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Or Never Had It.)


But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:44)


Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
         So, along comes one of those people who makes your skin crawl, or who makes you want to hide until they're gone, or who you think deserves to be shamed or otherwise mistreated. Imagine coming face to face with someone who abused and contributed to the death of your sister. Corrie and Betsy TenBoom were sent to a concentration camp for helping Jews escape the Nazis. Betsy died there. After the war, Corrie tried to help people who had suffered like she had. One day, a man walked up and reintroduced himself. He had been one of the guards at her camp, but had since become a Christian. What do you do in a situation like that?
         To put it a different way, what do you do when Jesus tells you to love your enemies or some other person you don't like? It's easier when they're not there, offering you their hand, or threatening to take your life. How do you love when there's no love there?  Corrie TenBoom did what today's passages suggest: she prayed, and as a result of that prayer, was able survive his brutality, and to shake his hand.
        You may never be asked to shake the hand of someone who once lived to watch you die, but the smaller challenges are always there. There have been people who inflicted lesser injuries. When they come to mind, pray for them. When anger or hatred cloud your judgment, pray for them and for yourself. Ask God to cause you to love even if you don't feel loving. Ask God to bless them and to save them in spite of your feelings. Those prayers are first steps in obedience to today's passages.



    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more