Caring for those who differ from us, especially if they don’t believe in Jesus, makes a bigger difference than cursing them.
Jesus absorbed anger—the anger of his enemies—in his own death on the cross and paid for it with his suffering. “Father, forgive them,” he said. The ultimate act of caring is for those who don’t deserve it. And who is that? Us. All sinners. You. Me. “While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).
God got angry, but instead of being angry with you, in love he chose to be angry at your sin, and condemn it instead of you. Caring over cursing. It saved you. And it saved the wicked people of Nineveh (Jonah chapter 3).
But Jonah wasn’t too excited about God’s compassion and mercy on people whose opinions, ideas and lifestyles differed from his. As a matter of fact, he was angry. So God taught him a lesson.
God gave Jonah a cool-down from his hot anger, by providing a huge plant that shaded him physically. Jonah was excited about that, but then God took the plant away and Jonah was angry at that.
God asked, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant? … You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh” (Jonah 4:9-11)?
Like the plant died so that Jonah would find care more from God than a plant, Jesus died so that you would find care more from God than from your own comfort and opinion.
When you do believe that God cares about you, then you will treat others that same way. You’ll care about them, even if they don’t deserve it. You’ll welcome them at church, even if they’re different. You’ll love them even if they don’t love you.
How? Watch these two short videos: Love Is Louder and Love Your Enemies. Then share with a friend who needs Jesus.
PRAYER: God, I want to care more quickly and sincerely about those who are different from me. Even about my enemies. Like Jesus does. Show your love to them through my actions. Speak your love to them through my words. Amen.
READ THIS: Check out HeGetsUs.com, that’s where you’ll find more videos like the ones above. Here is one thing you’ll read: “We see conflict all around us. We align ourselves on different sides of the fight in battles of politics, religion, justice, and too often, we let that conflict morph from a dignified defense of something good into a dehumanizing attack on the people we don’t agree with. It’s tearing us apart. But Jesus offered us an alternative … and his solution wasn’t to grow apathetic and avoid the conflict altogether. He showed us something else entirely, a third way. His response to the ever-increasing volume of hate and conflict was love. Not just any love — confounding, sacrificial, selfless love. You see, Jesus still stood up for what he believed in. He defended the defenseless, spoke up on behalf of the voiceless, even flipped a few tables, but in everything he did, he first moved with love toward the people he disagreed with. What if we tried to love our enemies the way Jesus loved his? How would it change the tenor of our conflicts and our conversations?”