I get a great deal of insight while driving and often notice how we treat each other in cars. Sometimes I think some of who we are appears when we are behind the wheel of our vehicle. We are safe in a metal and glass fortress of a couple thousand pounds of a get away machine, so being who we really are and saying, doing and gesturing how we really feel is not hard. No, it's not hard, it is perfectly safe.
So how about who we let out into traffic, or let get in line ahead of us. We might even feel good about ourselves if we let a little old lady or man in front of us. Us guys might feel particularly good about ourselves when we pause to let that pretty girl cut in. For you gals it might be that awesome looking guy, with the perfect amount of gel in his hair, a little unshaven and wearing a tank top and sweet sunglasses. It is easy to be kind to main stream, TV and magazine examples of perfection but what about those that choose their style outside those images. Are we as kind to the scruffy guy on his loud Harley with tattoos everywhere? How about some girl with rings and piercings everywhere and green and yellow hair? I use these examples because I have friends who look like each of these categories. Some of them I have been myself, although my hair was pink.
Do we find it easy to overlook noisy and nosey neighbor "A" , while we whine and complain about neighbor "B"? Why are we seemingly predisposed to treat some people well and other people not so well? Further more, why do some people covet what one person has, while not coveting what a different person has? Why would some of us wish harm on one person while never wish harm on another? I think you get my point.
Those scenarios apply to harming, stealing, gossiping, not forgiving and so on. I think I have an answer and a solution.
Let's look at Romans 13:8-10 NLT. "Owe nothing to anyone - except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law. For the commandments say, "You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet." These - and other such commandments - are summed up in this one commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God's Law."
Let's consider this. Can you steal from someone you love? No. Can you murder someone you love? No. I imagine some of you might be thinking about crimes of passion. Okay, they may be crimes of passion but passion is not love. Can you lust after the husband or wife of someone you love? No.
How can we be wonderful to some people, kind to other people and hateful still towards others? I think those feelings stem from varying degrees of love ranging from real love, to liking, to no love at all. Look, if we admit it, we do no harm to those we love and may not care at all about people we don't like. Oh, we may not wish them harm but we really don't care if they are in tough times, struggling or even ill. It is easy to take some hot chicken soup over to someone we love and just as easy to ignore someone we don't particularly care for.
If we truly fulfill God' s desire that we love one another, then we can do no harm to anyone. We can all be ambassadors for Christ, carrying and distributing His love everywhere. We can live a life of joy, excitement, gratitude and love. We can live a life being filled with that crazy, warm happy thing deep inside called love.
You know God didn't just set this up so those other people get treated well. He also had each one of us in mind. I am sure every one of us can remember a conflict with another person that went on for some time. Everytime we thought of that person (and it was all the time) our anger burned, our feelings hurt and we lived in a prison of ugliness. So is not loving that person hurting only them? Sometimes it is hurting only us because many times the person who has made us angry doesn't even know we are angry. We live each day carrying that anger or hurt while they merrily go through their day unaware that we have this issue. This is one of those beautiful things of God - when we love one another, everybody wins! How great is that? Hey, cool! God does know what He is doing! His instructions give us all the best possible way to live!
God tells us in His Law to not do this or that. Do we really think we can accomplish any of that while not being loving? Can we see that we can avoid doing those things if we can get one part right? What part? Love one another as you love yourself. Love one another as He loves you. Love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Might we say, if we love God with all we are, then we can't help but love one another. How can we say we love God and hold grudges, wish others harm, never talk to or forgive someone? Is that the way of God? I'll let you answer that.
Let's go back to verse 9 and 10 of chapter 12 from last week. "Don't just pretend to love one another. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is right. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other."
Chapter 12 verses 14-19 tell us things such as; bless those who persecute you, don't curse them, be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep, live in harmony, don't be too proud to enjoy people who are ordinary, don't think you know it all, never pay back evil with evil, do things in a way that those around you see you are honorable, live in peace with everyone and never take revenge. In verse 19 God tells us that revenge is His, not ours. In fact, in verse 20 we are taught that if our enemies are hungry - feed them. If they are thirsty - give them a drink. By living such a life they will feel shame. Now on the flip side, if you were all wound up and hateful toward another person and they came to you in love, where would the shame land?
Living a life of hate, racism, bigotry, classism, being judgmental, being angry, being unforgiving, or being hurtful are not things of God. If those are not things of God then they have to be things born of evil.
Chapter 12 closes with "Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good". If we live a life filled with all those negative things, then we are allowing those things that are not of God to conquer us. However, we can have victory over that evil by doing good.
Again from chapter 13:10 NLT; "Love does no wrong to others .... "
So... love somebody. Love everybody. Wrong no one.