Watch any romantic comedy today and you’ll see that our culture is confused about love. It’s constantly portrayed as simply liking someone a lot. But if that’s what love is, how are we to love those who are difficult to like?
God defines love in a very different way. Consider John 3:16. It says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” Now, imagine if that verse were written with Hollywood’s version of love. It would read something like, “For God so liked the world that he made more of it.”
But God did not like the world. In fact, He disliked it intensely but chose to love it anyway. In doing so, God showed us that love is not a feeling, but a choice to make the well-being of another person primary regardless of their condition and irrespective of their reaction.
If we’re honest, this is an impossible task. On a daily basis, we encounter people who are challenging, rude, and difficult to love. Apart from the grace of God, it’s impossible for us to love them the way He has called us to. So if you’re struggling to be a loving person, it’s no surprise!
Often, the neighbors we are called to love are the most unlovely among us, but we are empowered to make the choice of loving those who are unlikeable because of Christ in us. That’s what it means to fulfill the Great Commandment to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39).
Loving the unlovable is a sign of God’s grace in your life, and it’s a welcome invitation to those around you to experience Life in Him.