Learning to Love

"Things are tough all over, cupcake. It rains on the just and the unjust alike." — Sally Jupiter, "Watchmen"

Today we began the Moving Mountains series with perhaps the toughest mountain of all for some, forgiveness. And, of course, it's not just forgiveness, but the idea of loving our enemies as delivered by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. It's possibly one of the most fascinating, difficult, and inspiring passages in the Bible.

In the midst of a long section concerning our personal conduct, the way we live our lives, and the way we interact with the world, Jesus gives us perhaps the hardest instruction.

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 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 own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." — Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)

Of course, that's a hard instruction. It's hard for a couple reasons. First, it's a hard principle. No one wants to love those who persecute us. Second, it's hard because it runs contrary to the way the world tells you to live and act.

For me, the hardest thing to learn has been to bite my tongue and measure my response. I remember, years ago, I had a supervisor that offered his philosophy on dealing with those that didn't share his outlook. He said he tried to cut them so low that they were playing handball with the curb. That struck me as funny, and it became an approach I emulated, much to my detriment. It took years, sadly, to realize that I needed to be more patient and measured in my response.

And, of course, you can start small. One of the ways I learned to work on this was by waiting a beat to let my initial response pass. You'd be amazed at the way such a simple set can help you model a more Godly example and, conversely, how a quick response can further inflame a situation and leave you feeling more angry, more upset and, often, more guilty.

But those are simple situations. What about the bigger things? It is always amazing to see powerful examples of forgiveness in the world, even when those examples are fictional representations of how we'd like to imagine the world will be.

I am rarely surprised by the content of a film. I have seen thousands of films and usually know what to expect, but a couple years ago I was surprised with "Devil," a film written by M. Night Shymalan. A film that, on the surface, appeared to be a mild horror film turned out to have incredible depth in terms of exploring hatred and forgiveness.

The central figure in the film was a cop (Chris Messina) who suffered great loss in his life. His wife was killed by a hit-and-run driver, and he spent his life bitterly seeking out that driver to exact his revenge. Not hard to see how that happens, or to understand how that is a reflection of the world.

But a funny thing happened in the film. It didn't turn out how I expected. When, at the end of the film, the cop found the man responsible for the biggest tragedy in his life, he didn't exact revenge. Instead, he quietly offered forgiveness. It was powerful. It was beautiful. It was unexpected.

So was Jesus, and when we give our lives to Him, we are called to reflect those same qualities to those we meet. One of the ways we can do this is by forgiving and loving, even when we don't experience it in return.