“How do I love the unlovable?”

*Hard Questions Part 2

*Last Week:

*Hard Question #1

*“How Can a Loving God Allow Evil?”

*This Week:

*“How Do I Love the Unlovable?”

*Breaking the Question Down:1. It is a “how” question but it

can be a “why” question such as “why should I love those who I do not want to?”

2.A second aspect to consider revolves around defining “love” and the shades that love can come in.

3.And a third aspect is to consider what is meant by “unlovable”.

*The Third Part:

*We may find some people unlovable whereas someone else loves them dearly.

*Who do you find hard to love?

*The First Part: Why Should I?*1 John 4:8 and 16-21 on page 1902

*16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.

*… because in this world we are like him.

*1Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us

*…21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

*John 13:34-35 Page 1675*“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

*2nd Part: What Kind of Love?*Why do you ask?

*Luke 10:25-37

*Good, Better and Best Love*Good – Wish Them No Harm.

*Consider Judas:

*Matthew 5:43-48 Page 1503

*…Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,…

*46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

*…48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Better: Wish Them Well.

*Even when people have hurt us God can bring us to the state when they come to mind we wish them well.

*We can love the sinner and hate the sin and the damage that it has caused.

*The Best Level - Forgiveness*Ephesians 4:32-5:2 reminds us to “Forgive as God forgave you”

*Romans 5:6-11 on page 1753

*…when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

*…But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

*…when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son,

*How Do I Love This Way?*Follow the Leader!

*Jesus shows us the why and the how.

*Why – To avoid the darkness.

*How – Change perspective and offer forgiveness.

*How?*2 Corinthians 5:14-21 on page 1799.

*…those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

*…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

*…gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

*…not counting men’s sins against them.

*… 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

*How do we offer forgiveness?*It requires a change of focus and

letting go of the desire to bring about justice.

*Now What???*How are you going to put this into practice for the “unlovables” in your life?

*How do you handle knowing that you are one of the unlovables!

*Love is a choice and Jesus enables us to make the best choices even when we do not feel like it.

*Next Week:

*An Awkward Question –

*How Do I Live with Christian Ethics in a Secular World?