When Love Is Hard
We often say, “God is love,” from the Bible (1 John
4:7–8). The words are gentle. Living them is not.
It is easy to love kind people. It is natural to be warm to those who are warm to us. But what about the person who is cold, critical, unfair, or perpetually unpleasant? This is where Christian love stops being poetry and becomes practice.
Jesus quietly challenges us in Bible (Matthew 5:46) —
loving those who love us is no great achievement. Real love begins when
feelings disagree.
Many times, we speak loudly about love yet act weakly in
love because we have not fully received God’s love into our own hearts. When we
are still seeking approval, fairness, and appreciation from others, we struggle
to give grace. A heart that feels empty cannot overflow.
Difficult people, uncomfortable as they are, reveal what is
still unhealed in us. They expose our pride, impatience, and ego. Without them,
the beautiful words of Bible (1 Corinthians 13:4–7) would remain theory,
never experience.
To love does not mean to approve wrong or accept
mistreatment. It means refusing to return hurt with hurt. It means keeping the
heart free from bitterness while setting wise boundaries.
Perhaps God allows such people into our lives not to trouble
us, but to shape us. Easy people bring comfort. Difficult people produce
Christ-likeness.
In the end, love is not something we force. It grows when we
remember how deeply God loves us — despite who we are. And slowly, we learn to
see others through that same mercy.
Sometimes, the hardest person to love is the very one God
uses to teach us what His love truly means.
https://youtu.be/n90I6nsiYw4?si=PIJTzPUagycTnOry
