Everybody Is Easy to Love Until They're Not
Matthew 5:44
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
The greatest danger with difficult people isn't simply what they might do to us.
It's what we might allow them to produce in us.
Matthew 12:
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
You Can Disagree Without Dehumanizing
We can become so determined to prove our point that we forget there's a person standing on the other side of the argument.
Don't Let Difficult People Choose Your Character
9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
"...looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus.”
11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
Love Doesn't Mean You Don't Confront
Love without truth becomes enabling.
Truth without love becomes cruelty.
Loving Someone Doesn't Mean Giving Them Unlimited Access
14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.
What Does Loving a Difficult Person Actually Look Like?
What Does Loving a Difficult Person Actually Look Like?
- I can tell you the truth without trying to destroy you.
- I can establish a boundary without needing revenge.
- I can disagree with you without degrading you.
- I can forgive you without pretending it didn't hurt.
- I can walk away when necessary without wishing you harm.
- I can pray for you even when I'm not ready to be close to you.
- I can refuse to let your behavior determine my character.
Don't let someone else's hatred decide who you become.
You can stand your ground without hardening your heart.
