Loving the "Unlovable"

This topic has been on my mind for the past few weeks so i thought i'd just share some of my thoughts. Over the summer, i worked in a small independent pharmacy about 10minutes from town. Due to the nature of my work, i'd be encountering drug addicts on a daily basis. Initially, my heart was full of compassion and love for them and I wanted to show love for them. However, several unpleasant incidents (mostly related to shoplifting) happened where I was verbally abused by some customers though I had done nothing wrong. This caused me to recoil... I was pretty shaken that I started to view each customer with suspicion. The entire week i felt horrible , because my trust in them has been betrayed and I felt i could not trust any of them anymore. I felt horrible also because love has been replaced by distrust.

After that week, i realised that i could not longer live this life not trusting anyone, building a wall to keep out others and preventing them from hurting me. I decided to choose to love and trust again. This does not mean that I trust them blindly, I try to be more vigilant but not paranoid. This has been a difficult lesson to learn .. how do you love people who are hostile to you? How do you love people who hurt and betray you? In a nutshell, how do you love someone who simply do not deserve our love and forgiveness?

If given a choice, many of us would choose to love , forgive and show kindness to people whom we deem deserving of our goodwill. People who repay evil for good, people who don't show their appreciation/take us for granted or people who did horrible things are considered less deserving of our love, grace and understanding. By doing so, we are giving out conditional love. This type of love demands a reciprocal act. The world knows how to give out conditional love. In fact, sometimes, they are better than Christians in showing love for their friends and loved ones. What the world needs is unconditional love. The type of love that demands no benefit in return, that are given out of a willing heart for those who do not deserve it.

Matthew 5:46-48 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The world cannot give this kind of love (Agape) because it is not aware of God's love for them. But if we, as disciples of Christ are able to demonstrate this type of love to those that the society deem "unlovable" , I believe that the world will "see" Christ through us! For no man can love like this in his own strength, only one who has can truly comprehend the extend of God's love for us can show this unconditional love to another human.

I was on the Rainbow 5 the other day when i overheard a guy trying to convince his girlfriend that God doesn't exist, the world isn't created by God and if there is a God, it need not necessarily be Jesus. Apparently, someone must have tried to explain to them that even if they dont believe in His existence, He still exists , because there are people who knows God. If i'm not mistaken it should be the same analogy that Kenny Gan used: I have a friend name James, even if you don't know him, never seen him before, he exists because I know him.

The guy's argument was, he's never seen God..and many ppl can't claimed to have seen God with their eyes or provide photographic proft of His existence. At that moment, I totally agree with him. Yes, man may not be able to "see" God , but they are able to see the body of Christ on earth. Where is the body of Christ when it's most needed? The answer is simple: we're the body of Christ! we're His hands to do good work, show acts of kindness and love, we're His feet that bring the gospel, we're His mouth that speaks His words. Guess what I did? it's quite comical actually... i plucked up my courage, dished out a booklet containing the gospel according to Mark and gave him one. haha.. i bet it shocked him . I'm not trying to mock him, or trying to get back at him for mocking God, my desire is to send him one little message: the body of Christ is alive! and it's doing the will of Christ (head of the body).

May this little incident be an encouragement to all... wherever you are, you are the body of Christ ! Don't lose your saltiness, continue to reflect His glory! Amen

Challenge: Are there people around you that are difficult to love? Do you avoid them?

What about people who are considered "weird" or "difficult" or "troublemaker" by society? Do you shun them? Do you actively seek to befriend and understand them; and not judge them based on how the society stereotype them?

If we care to spend more time knowing people in depth before we judge them, we'll find that there's no one who's "unlovable". Each man and woman is precious in God's eyes. He sent His only Son to die, not just for the righteous , but for the unrighteous too!

*Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

Ewok's Story: The Devil's Foothold

Let me tell ya a story. Once upon a time, there was a man who owns a house. And this house was not a good or bad house, it was an average looking house in an average looking city. So one day, this man decided to sell this house, but no one wanted to buy this house. So he decided he will sell this house for $2000. A few weeks later, a poor man (by poor I mean very very poor man) wanted to buy the house, but he could only afford to pay $1000. So this man tried there and again to negotiate the price of this house with the house owner, but failed. After a week or so, the house owner took pity on the poor man and said to him:

"I will sell you the house at $1000 on one condition. I will hang a nail above the door. The whole house is yours but the area where the nail is, is mine and you cannot touch or disturb the nail."

The poor man agreed to it and thus the house was exchanged between them. After a few years, the poor man wanted to sell the house. The house owner told him that the part where the nail is, belongs to him and woul buy the house at $1000, at the price the poor man bought the house earlier with. The poor man refused and the house owner got very upset. After several quarrels and they were getting nowhere, the house owner took a carcass of a dog and hung it on the nail, which was above the door. The carcass stank of rotting flesh, fleas and it wasnt a very nice smell. The poor man couldnt find a buyer due to the stench given by this carcass and in the end had no choice but to sell the house back to the house owner at $1000.

The point which I am trying to say is: The house represents your life, your body, and the poor man is you. The house owner represents the devil. The money represents temptations/nice things/indulgence in life.

Once you give the devil a small foothold in your life (which comes from the nail part of the story), he will take control of your entire life and it will be extremely hard to wrench it away from him. Don't let the devil lure you away with tempting gifts, pray to overcome this.

Dancing with God

When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE,
I was drawn to"dance" at the end of the word.
I reflected upon how doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes this and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE.
When I saw "G," I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i."
"God, "u" and "i" dance." !
God, you, and I dance.
This statement is what guidance means to me.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
and mercies be upon you and your family
on this day and everyday.
May you abide in Him as He abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting Him to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.
I Hope You Dance !!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is Precious - "Give God Thanks For It"