Known by Love

I usually begin and end my day reading the news online, chiefly Google News and BBC News so I often read stories about the unkind and hurtful things that people do to others. I do not look for those stories, but they are not easy to avoid. Stories about acts of kindness, of acts of healing, are far less common. As I was telling a friend, I often wake up early in the morning and I am unable to fall back sleep. When this happen, I find myself thinking about all kinds of things. I am sometimes prompted to write an article about them like this one.

I spend good part of my day online. I read articles and the comments that people leave in response to the article or to the comments that others have made. People say a lot of unkind and hurtful things to each other. They may not say it directly, but it is inferred. I read similar comments on Facebook. I thought about that too.

As I thought about the unkind and hurtful things that people do and say, my mind turned to the unkind and hurtful things that had been done and said to me. Sometimes they were intentional. Those who did or said the unkind and hurtful things were not just inconsiderate of my feelings, but they were seeking to inflict a wound. Other times, those who did or said unkind and hurtful things to me did not realize what they were doing or saying would affect me. They had not given it much thought. Indeed, they were surprised when I drew to their attention how what they did or said left me feeling.

I also thought about how people whom we know will encourage us to do or say unkind and hurtful things to others. They may be well-intentioned. They may believe that they are offering good advice. But what they are telling us to do or say is not the right thing to do or say.

I am a Christian. While I do fall short in many regards and I may have blind spots, I do make an effort to live my life in accordance with Jesus’ teaching, particularly what are called his “love commandments”—to love our fellow human beings, to do to others what we would have done to us, to love our fellow Christians, and to love our enemies. The older I get, the more mindful I have become of what Jesus taught, what he himself exemplified.

As I thought about Jesus’ teaching and example, one thought gently pressed its way to my attention. Whatever the outcome we are to keep on loving—our fellow human beings, our fellow Christians, our enemies. Jesus did not tie our loving them to their being loving, loveable, or returning our love. The love that we are to show them is the kind of love that God shows us, the kind of love that God showed us when he gave his only begotten Son that all who believe in him might have eternal life. It is a selfless love. It is the kind of love that God shows us in the rich abundance of the grace that he supplies us. It is the kind of the love that is shown by a God who is love.