Loving The Unlovable Series

Gospel love is unconditional

But that’s the exact opposite of the gospel. That’s the reason Beauty and the Beast is so profound, because actually it’s not a fairy tale – it actually reflects the message of the gospel. It’s a message that says "I’m determined to love that which is unlovable." And that is exactly the kind of love that the gospel not only demonstrates but also calls each one of us to live out.

Loving the Unlovable. Loving the beast – and lets be honest – there’s a little bit of a beast in everyone of us. In fact, perhaps there’s probably more than anybody around us really knows about. But the message of the Gospel is that while you were still unlovable, while you were still beastly, while you were still living under a curse - ‘God demonstrated his own love for you in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

Loving the unlovable.

Love you enemies

And whether you like it or not Christianity is all about loving those around us – everyone, without favoritism or preference. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘I love life, it’s people I can’t stand!’ You will often hear me say that ‘church would be great if it wasn’t for the people’. And if we’re honest there will be people who we feel exactly that that way about.

Sometimes people can be just down right thoughtless, mean, cruel, insensitive and difficult. Whether they mean to or not they cause us pain, and hurt by their words or by their actions. There may be people who for no apparent reason just get under our skin, people we find beastly, people we find repulsive, people we find unlovable, people we make every effort to avoid - ‘hey! Forget about this love thing, after what they did or said they don’t deserve it anyway’ – so we just spend all our time trying to keep out of their way – problem solved!

But listen to what Jesus says in his sermon on the mount

‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful’. Luke 6:32-36

Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies and bless those who persecute you’. Well, that’s easy for Him to say. He’s God! His capacity for love is infinite. He even forgave those who crucified him while he was hanging in agony on the cross! But it’s not quite that simple for us is it! I came across this prayer. ’May those that love us love us, those that don’t love us may God turn their hearts, and if He doesn’t turn their hearts may He turn their ankles so that we’ll know them by their limping’.

Illustration – There was a young couple who went to see their pastor to try and get him to approve their divorce, because, as they put it, “there’s no feeling left.” The pastor told the husband to love his wife as Christ loved the church. The husband said, “I can’t do that.” The pastor asked him to love her as he would love himself. Again, the said that ‘I can’t do that’. So the pastor said, “The Bible says to love your enemies. Try starting there.”