Loving beyond ourselves

How much do we truly love others?
 
It's a very challenging question.  Some of you are thinking you would rather forget people in your world; "some are odd balls" you say!  We do have to be careful when we call others odd, because if we are all unique (which we are) surely we are all slightly different in some way!

Loving others despite our differences is the key to happiness; seeing the good in others and being a blessing to other people's lives.  To truly love others with no strings attached, we have to love beyond ourselves.

Looking to my faith, the bible teaches us to even love our enemies!  When we are wronged our first reaction is to get even; an eye of an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  Instead, Jesus taught us to do good to those that have wronged us.  If we only love the lovable do we expect to be a great person?  The answer is no not really because anyone can do that.  We are called to live a life of generosity and graciousness toward each other.

I recently saw a video clip of a lady who had a near death experience.  When she met God, she felt love like no other she had ever experienced before.  Jesus said to her,  "do you love people like this"?  She answered, "well no, I could never love like this I'm only human...but I've been a good wife and a good mother surely that's been enough".  Jesus said, "that's good, but you could do better".

This really challenged my thinking, am I really loving people how I should?  Am I really a lover of people?  We only have one life to live, one chance on this planet to make a difference and do something positive with our lives.  The older I get I've come to realise life is all about people not things. 

Jesus came for and loves all manner of people, if we are to follow His example, we've got a lot of work to do because God loves the righteous, unrigtheous, successful, destitute, the well & the sick, the disturbed, the young, the middle aged, the old, the ancient, the youthful, the decrepid, the over the hills, the rich & poor, the up and coming, the down & outs, the male, the female, Jew & Gentile, popular, unpopular, white & black, kings & peasant, the singles, the marrieds, the single parent, the divorced, the divorced-divorced-divorced, the happy and the broken, the hard working & the lazy, the home-builder, the home-wrecker, those living in hope, those living in sin, the saint, the sinner, the ex-offender, the cleaned-up, the messed-up, the straight, the gay, bisexual and transsexual, the enemy, the lovable, the loud, the quiet, the sociable and unsociable, the deceitful, the pure-hearted; the list could go on (quotes taken from Pastor Andy Dilnot, New Horizon Church).

So what are we doing today to reach out to others, not just our families, not just those who are good to us, but beyond ourselves out into the world of others despite our differences?

Bible Verses taken from Matt 5

And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.  You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.  If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus?  Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill person does that.“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.