When Love Becomes A Reflex

Jesus constantly found Himself approached by men who wished to discredit him, accuse Him, and find Him at fault. Yet His response was always the same. He desired for them to be SAVED. To know God. He wanted them to experience eternal life, when they wished to kill him. Not too many of us can relate to this extent of conflict, yet we’ve all faced personal attacks, harsh words, and cruel treatment from imperfect people like ourselves. I used to pride myself in the ability to take the hit and retreat without a response. But Jesus didn’t give up on the people who hurt Him. He didn’t ignore them, and He certainly didn’t hold it against them. Instead, He offered to be their Savior. Retreating is a response- one motivated by a love for ourselves rather than love for the other person, for Truth, and for God.

In John 8, Jesus says you either look like Me or you look like the devil. There’s no in between. And that’s where we often deceive ourselves. If I don’t respond in selfless love, I’m looking more like the devil and that’s appalling! But in conflict, if I respond with a love for the other person that is greater than the love I have for myself, I’ll seek restoration in our relationship, and I’ll desire to see them restore their relationship with God. And that’s when my response will look more like Jesus. But how do we do this? Jesus took comfort in the Father’s love, John 5:20. He found courage in doing God’s will, John 5-6. I think that’s where we can find confidence to love those who wrong us, too. Psalm 27:10 shows us even when the humans who are most likely to love us reject us, the Lord will receive us. Our reactions must be according to Who God is, not who the offense is from. We love because He first loved us, not because someone else deserves or doesn’t deserve it. (1 John4:19) We CAN love our enemies, as we’re commanded to, only by tapping into God’s abundance of love and grace shown toward us. Is it easy? No, but thank God Jesus didn’t choose easy when facing the cross for you and me, who were once His enemy.