[312 words]
Let’s be honest, there is somebody you can’t stand.
You may not even have a goat but somehow, they got it. Just the way they walk and breathe irks you. Even when they are being nice, you want to punch them in the face. There’s just something about them that is like fingernails on a blackboard.
So, what do you do about it?
You love them.
I know, I know, you’re thinking they don’t deserve it. You think about the way they wronged you, what they said, how they act as if your feelings were unimportant. Yet it’s not about them. You need to heal. That grudge you’ve been carrying has been there so long it has worked its way into your skin. It’s an infection that’s not going anywhere easily. That is why you need to love them.
In 1 Peter 4:8, we read, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” It’s thought that Peter here is making a reference to Proverbs 10:12, “Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.” Both verses are making the same point on different wavelengths. If we continue to hate, it’s just going to lead us further into problems. The only way out is to love our way out of it.
Love is a choice we make, an action we set forth. When we don’t “feel” like it, we still can do it. The more we show love to those that have gotten under our skin, the more likely it is to remove that itch. Love is the ointment that will take away the symptoms leading ourselves to the cure of the problem. Scratching the itch with negative thoughts and actions might give temporary relief but they only make it worse. The way to make it go away is to love it.
Barry Haynes
Hope church of Christ
Hope, AR