Proverbs 25:21-22 and Romans 12:20 “If your enemies are
hungry, give them food to eat. If they
are thirsty, give them water to drink.
You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will
reward you.”
The message of this scripture really is
straightforward. We are to love people
that we least want to love. We don’t
have to like them, but our actions toward them are to be loving. We can even oppose someone and still love
them. This is what is needed today more
than ever.
A few years ago, I did something I’m not known for doing. My
wife sent me a link about a news story and when I watched it, I was saddened to
my core and I cried. Then, I did
something I have never done in my life. I wrote senators, representatives, and
the then current Attorney General (a fellow Methodist) to ask them to do
something about it. I spoke out about
the issue on social media. The issue
that incensed me is not the point here, so I’m purposely leaving out the
details.
I did it knowing that people would oppose me and they
did. People I have respect for tried to
defend the practice and said unkind things about me for having a different
opinion. It was at that moment I felt
the import of the above passage. I knew
that for my love to have integrity, I had to treat those who opposed my opinion
and were unkind with just as much love as I claimed to have for those I sought
to defend. I have to say this. That was WAY harder than speaking out about
injustice. But here’s the crux of why
it’s so important. The heaping of
“burning coals of shame on their heads”
doesn’t happen if I simply oppose them with unkindness and
dismissiveness. In order for my enemies
to be affected by me in any positive way, they have to know not only that I
oppose them, but I oppose them lovingly.
That’s the recipe for burning coals – opposition + justice + love.
How do I know that to be true? Because I have had the not pleasurable
experience of “burning coals of shame” heaped upon my own skull. People who opposed me, but did so with love
and justice, have turned me toward justice.
Without love, the opposition is easy to dismiss or ignore – it’s just
dust I can shake off my feet. But love
adds the burning heat. ‘
I think it’s why this “loving your enemies” thing is so hard
to do. It’s like handling burning
coals. I began by sharing an example of
my effort at trying to do it. I’m real
clear that I didn’t do it well then and I don’t do it well now. But what I am really clear about is that
Jesus expects me to keep doing it. This
is what He did and we are His body so we are to do it too. So take a stab at handling those burning
coals. On second thought, don’t stab at
it. That’s a good way to get burned
yourself. Handle those coals carefully!
Until tomorrow.
Question: Who are the
people who are hardest for you to love?
Prayer: God, you love people who seem to us unlovable. Help us to do the same.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for injustice that, when you think about it, makes you cry. Ask God to show you how to add your loving
opposition to that injustice.
Song: Casting Crowns
– Love You With the Truth
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