Learn in to Loving the Unlovely

Beloved Kinney,

This coming Sunday, Pastor Samuel Clintoc from Park Hills Baptist Church will be preaching on Luke 6:27-36. This passage is a portion of a sermon Jesus preached where he called his followers to love those who are at enmity with you by doing good to them. The context is mainly about persecution.

Of course, we don’t experience near the level of persecution that our brothers and sisters in other countries may experience, but we still feel it to some degree. Perhaps we are ostracized in certain social settings. Maybe we miss out on certain work benefits. For some, our family has rejected us because of our faith.

Whatever degree or kind of persecution you experience for your trust in Christ, hear the message of Jesus: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (v27). What might that look like for you? What might it look like, not merely to tolerate those who don’t like you, and certainly not to retaliate against them, but to actually love them?

Let me encourage us: instead of running away from or avoiding those who are hard to love, lean into loving the unlovely. Perhaps some names and faces come to mind. What might it look like for you to love them, even this week?

Don’t forget your power: Jesus loves you. The sacrifice of love you may be obligated to show others does not compare to the sacrifice of love Jesus has shown you! Let that be your strength to love those who are hard to love.

Love,
Pastor Josh