Our calling never changes

We are called to love one another.  That is Jesus' command to us - Love each other as I have loved you, He said.  

We can do this as a doctor, as a wife, as a mother, as a ditch digger, as a movie star, as a singer, as a high school teacher -- you catch my drift.

Our job title or role factors into it zero when it comes to loving others.  We are to love people wherever we go, whatever we do.  This is Jesus' non-negotiable for us.  This is our foundational calling.

Jobs comes, jobs go.  Relationships change.  Status wavers.  Careers can leave us wanting more and eventually end.  

We have many assignments and roles in life - they change with the seasons or years, depending on our age or circumstances.

But our main calling never changes.  Not ever.  

If we're the greatest _______ (fill in the blank) who ever lived and yet have little love in our hearts, we're missing our calling.

We've come to value the wrong things in life, overall.  We are impressed by the "outer" man, accomplishments, degrees, how many "followers" someone has, what they look like, etc.

But God looks at the heart.  Period.  That is all He really sees.  That is where our motives lie.  That is who we really are.

Heart work is hard.  The longer you live, the more "hits" its takes, the more bruises, wounds, and such it has endured.  So to keep it soft, to keep it full of love, well, takes courage, faith, and, above all, Jesus living in it.  Bitterness is not an option for the Christian.

But if we're honest, we know that we can only love so far, so much, so deeply in and of ourselves.

Jesus calls us to a radical kind of love.  Love our enemies.  Love those who hurt and betray us.  Love, love, love.

This is not a mushy, sentimental kind of love.  It's easy to slap a heart emoji on our texts and online posts.  It's quite another to do the hard work of loving those who misunderstand, manipulate, or mistreat us.

So how do we treat those who rub us the wrong way or who out-and-out hurt us? Just write them off?  "Diss" or "ghost" them?  That's the coward's way out.

Love never fails.  That means that we never fail to give love because it is not based on what we receive in return, but in our willingness to let Jesus pour out His love to others through us, including those we'd just as soon forget.

This is a high calling indeed and rarely seen or experienced.  Nonetheless, this is what we are called to be and do as Christ-followers.

Are you up to task?  Remember, loving is not the same as liking.  We all have preferences - those we dig more than others.

Jesus loves indiscriminately.  We do not.

But!  If we are willing to "go there" with God, allow Him to love through us, we can become more like Him in how we love others.  We can do what may not come so naturally to us after all - love the unlovable. Love the one on the other side of the political aisle. 

Love doesn't say, "I love you if..."  Real love never ends.

Some people come into our lives not as "keepers" but "just passing through."  That's fine.  But no matter how long they are in our lives, we are called to love them just the same.

Some people don't know how to receive love.  It makes them uncomfortable.  They may think you have an angle.  Love them anyway!

Others want to feel as if they are in control and your love toward them makes them feel out of control because controllers want to be the givers, not the receivers.

Anyway, we can analyze it 'til the cows come home.  

Love freely.  Love without conditions.  Love everyone you know as well as strangers who cross your path.  

This may seem the obvious thing to do as Christians, so why am I belaboring it?  Because I don't see enough of it yet.  So apparently, we still need to be reminded!

Dare to love.  And whether or not you "feel" loved in return, determine to be the bigger person anyway and live up to what you are called to do.  Love.

Dear Lord.  Sometimes it's hard to love those whom we don't understand, or who have mistreated us. Please help us freely love others, as You freely love us, so that You may be glorified, so that we can live into our calling, and so that others will see You in us.  Thank You so much for always loving us, Lord Jesus.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.