Loving Messy People

Last updated on: March 16, 2020 at 5:32 pm by Billy Kangas

Loving Messy People 2020-03-16T17:32:45-04:00 Billy Kangas

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When I was a kid, I loved to read the “funnies” in the paper every weekend. I enjoyed seeing the cartoonists offer a funny take on normal human life. It helped me to feel like I wasn’t alone in the daily challenges of life. Over the years, I saw new comic s0trips come and go; but one seemed to remain constant: Peanuts.

Not only did Peanuts have an incredibly long run, but its humor remains relevant to this day. There is one strip that I am reminded of almost daily. Lucy is giving Linus a hard time about his desire to become a doctor. She says he would never make it as a doctor because he doesn’t have enough love for mankind. Linus responds saying, “I love mankind… It’s people I can’t stand.”

I can relate. I have no problem affirming how good and noble humanity is in theory. The difficulty arises when real people actually show up.

People are messy, annoying, unappreciative and demanding. Loving people would be so much easier if it could remain an abstract theory and we didn’t have to really practice it.

One thing that has helped me is the example of Mother Theresa. Whenever she experienced someone who was difficult to love, she reminded herself that the person before her was simply Christ in a “distressing disguise.”

This week we’re going to explore what it looks like to love difficult, vulnerable and challenging people. Following God requires us to take this challenge seriously. If you want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, you will inevitably find yourself challenged to love people who aren’t easy.

In many ways, this is the heart of the Christian message. God loved us when we were unlovable, and we are called to follow that example in every area of our lives.

“Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’
Matthew 25:40

Questions for Today

What is one way someone has demonstrated selfless love to you?
Where is one area of your life where you are finding it difficult to love?

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