in which i gnaw my own foot off

this is one post i was not excited about writing, which is probably why it took me so long to get back to it.  it came to my attention fairly quickly that a post which i wrote about love a couple months ago had some... er... theological challenges in it.  ok, i'll just say it now: i was wrong.  to what degree though, i'm not entirely sure.  i don't completely disagree with everything i said, but i'm just not sure how much of it i still think is true.  who would've thought that such a simple commandment could be made so complicated???


i think part of the problem is that there were multiple issues i was trying to group together.

perhaps i was mistaken in implying that loving and liking are the same thing.  obviously, you probably aren't going to like everyone, and that doesn't absolve you of the responsibility to act lovingly toward them.  and true, acting lovingly toward an enemy is a godly response--love being the lookout for their well-being.  it probably is proven in the most concrete way when you don't have an actual desire for relationship confusing your motivations.  but i think what i meant was more relating to the heart level.

God loves everyone, but He also delights in them as people.  that's not to say that He is always pleased with them, but their identity is separate from that.  so if i am striving to be like God, i should be looking through His eyes--how these people are uniquely equipped, and how i can invest in them and serve them.  in a sense, i love them because i love God, so i [try to] see them as he does.  when you see the good in someone, it is harder to dislike them.  (i think this can apply to anyone, even those who come against you.)

the other issue is more one of friendship.  i did not clarify that, and i'm not even sure whether i should have brought it up at all.  but i already did, so...

the point i meant to make was that in the case of claiming to be someone's friend, loving someone solely because it is the "Christian" thing to do might not actually be the point.  love is (at least partially) based on needs, but in this case, pure friendship is the need itself, so without the "delight in" side of it, it becomes somewhat fake (i think).  but Jesus reached out to the friendless and the outcasts intentionally, and even connected with them intentionally.  those were the majority of the people with whom He associated.

my point, i think, is that this kind of love (or delight, or whatever), is not possible for humans in its purest form.  it just isn't.  love is a decision of how to act, but even more, i think, it's a decision to let God change you.