Love at Church - Hate at School

“And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” - Luke 6:33

Our world talks a lot about “kindness,” both inside and outside the church. I can remember a TV campaign not too long ago whose tagline was, “Kindness. Pass it on.” It was a great reminder to think about others and not just ourselves.

I grew up in church, so we talked about love and loving your neighbor almost every single week. And I was in church A LOT growing up!

I’ve always felt like I was a kind person at heart. A lot of that probably came from being part of a family that loved me and cheered me on in whatever I did. My parents showed up to everything. Games, events, school stuff—you name it, they were there. That kind of support leaves a mark. Sure, we had tense moments and arguments like every family does, but loving them was never hard. They were family.

But then there was my childhood bully, Bill (name changed to protect the guilty—ha!). From 8th through 10th grade I couldn’t stand that guy. I’d daydream about finally getting revenge for all the teasing. I was tall, but I wasn’t a fighter, so the best I could do was imagine my hands being registered weapons and taking down my “enemy.”

Here was the problem with ol’ Brian Morris: I could be Mr. Hotshot, Jesus-singing, Bible-thumping holy guy at youth group, and then go to school and dream about beating someone up. The love of Jesus translated really well to people I felt loved me back. It just didn’t reach the “Bills” in my life.

Looking back now, I wonder what was going on in Bill’s world that I never saw. What kind of hurt did he carry? What examples did he have at home? What pain made him think the only way to feel better was to make someone else feel small?

When God tells us to love people—especially the hard ones—it means we sometimes need to pause. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to slow down our emotions and guide our response. We ask God, “What do You want me to do right now?”

That’s easy to say and hard to live. But difficulty doesn’t make it any less right.

So here’s a challenge for this week: make a real effort to love. Unconditionally. Love your family. Love strangers. Love the person who cuts you off in traffic. Love the one who ignores your feelings. Love them anyway.

And go a step further. Ask the Holy Spirit if there is something you should say or do that would show the love of Jesus, even when you’re facing opposition.

Let’s work on living like Christ by choosing to love first in everything we do, and trusting God to handle the rest.