Loving the Unlovable
Dave Gustavsen
Matthew 5:21-24, 38-48
Good morning. Today I want to talk about what it means to love people…who we find unlovable. Do you have any of those in your life?
Sometimes it's people who have radically different views from us. You're a devoted Hillary supporter, and there's a guy across the hall at work who always comes in wearing his ''Make America Great Again'' hat. And it bothers you. Or maybe it's someone who has deeply different views about global warming, or Black Lives Matter, or religion. And every time you see this person, you feel this combination of disgust and anger and, if you're honest, maybe even hatred.
Sometimes it's people who have hurt us in the past. She posted something nasty about you online, or he said something insulting about you to a friend. He cheated on you while you were dating him, or she had an affair while you were married to her. Or maybe a person who physically hurt you or mistreated your child. I mean, real wrong was done. And every time you think of this person, you feel this combination of righteous indignation and desire for revenge.
And sometimes it's people who just seem so different from us. You're from the suburbs; you're educated; every morning you read the business news while you drink your latte. And you turn on the TV and see the Duck Dynasty guys with their beards and redneck accents and shotguns…and you just don't get it. Or you turn on News 12 and you see a group of Paterson residents demonstrating in the streets. And it's just so different from your world, that you feel this combination of fear and superiority and maybe contempt.
And here's the crazy thing: these are exactly the kinds of people that Jesus calls us to love. Not just be tolerant of, but actually love. What does that even mean? That's what I want to talk about today, because I think we desperately need to hear what Jesus says about it.
So we're going be looking at a section of the most famous serm ...
Dave Gustavsen
Matthew 5:21-24, 38-48
Good morning. Today I want to talk about what it means to love people…who we find unlovable. Do you have any of those in your life?
Sometimes it's people who have radically different views from us. You're a devoted Hillary supporter, and there's a guy across the hall at work who always comes in wearing his ''Make America Great Again'' hat. And it bothers you. Or maybe it's someone who has deeply different views about global warming, or Black Lives Matter, or religion. And every time you see this person, you feel this combination of disgust and anger and, if you're honest, maybe even hatred.
Sometimes it's people who have hurt us in the past. She posted something nasty about you online, or he said something insulting about you to a friend. He cheated on you while you were dating him, or she had an affair while you were married to her. Or maybe a person who physically hurt you or mistreated your child. I mean, real wrong was done. And every time you think of this person, you feel this combination of righteous indignation and desire for revenge.
And sometimes it's people who just seem so different from us. You're from the suburbs; you're educated; every morning you read the business news while you drink your latte. And you turn on the TV and see the Duck Dynasty guys with their beards and redneck accents and shotguns…and you just don't get it. Or you turn on News 12 and you see a group of Paterson residents demonstrating in the streets. And it's just so different from your world, that you feel this combination of fear and superiority and maybe contempt.
And here's the crazy thing: these are exactly the kinds of people that Jesus calls us to love. Not just be tolerant of, but actually love. What does that even mean? That's what I want to talk about today, because I think we desperately need to hear what Jesus says about it.
So we're going be looking at a section of the most famous serm ...
There are 26138 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
