Thursday, February 20, 2014

Biweekly Bits #2: Everyone Won't Like You

After writing 26 bits, I realized that there is so much I could elaborate on with each of my bits. So I decided to turn them into a biweekly (i.e. fortnightly) series, for the next year.


Everyone won't like you. There's nothing you can do about it. Quite frankly, you don't want some people to like you anyway. When people don't like you, it reminds you of two things: (i) you aren't perfect and (ii) people aren't perfect.
Most of us, most of the time, want people to like us. It's a good feeling, isn't it? But sometimes, they don't like us. It could be because of something that we've done, or because we hold an opposing view on an issue that they hold dear, or it could be because of something completely out of our control, things about us that we cannot change: gender, race, nationality, or family. The point is, some people won't like us, for whatever reason. This is especially hard when the people that don't like us call themselves Christians, and are part of the same body of Christ that we belong to.

However, there's a lesson in this, and an important one too -- none of us is perfect. Our imperfections are what make us clash, and they should remind us that even in church, we don't all have it all together. We all, in some way, let our pride, or greed, or idolatry, or selfishness cloud our view of the rest of the world, making us unlikable, or unable to see the good qualities in others. We are all broken people with imperfect points of view.

Yet this is what makes the body of Christ, the Christian life and walk such a wonderful thing. That through God's grace, and by His power we seek to love people, even when we don't like them. That we can love those who hate us, and set out to make our lives miserable. And that when we struggle to love these ones who are so strongly against us, we know that we can, because Christ has first loved us (1 John 4:7-21).

And don't be naive, there are definitely those who are against us. Who stand against everything that we stand for. Whose primary goal in life is to tear us down for who we are. But we are called to love them too, with that perfect love that casts out fear (1 Peter 3:8-12). For we know that God is faithful to vindicate us, and our love is like heaping coals upon their heads (Psalm 54, Romans 12:14-21).

So if someone doesn't like you, pray for them. Pray for you too, that you may be able to love them regardless of how they may (try to) hurt you. Pray that God alone may be your justice in the face of persecution. Pray that Christ's perfect love is reflected in you.

Be blessed and shine imperfectly.



2 comments:

  1. Nope-- we definitely aren't promised popularity. :-) In fact, it's often a sign of compromise to be surrounded by adoring fans. Hard truth, but truth it is.

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A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—
and how good is a timely word! -Prov 15:23