Let’s face it, we’ve all met people we would choose not to hang out with. Then there are times when people insert themselves into our lives and we ask ourselves, What did I do to deserve this? My friend Roger II, whom I mentioned last week, was one of those people — smelly, uncouth, an addict, and lost. But even way back then, I realized that if not for God’s grace, I would have been just like Roger: an alcoholic with a little cardboard sign saying, “Vietnam vet. Will work for food.”

It’s humbling to realize that God did not intervene in our lives because we’re good but because He is good. In Luke 10, a lawyer asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied with a question: “What do you think?” He answered (paraphrased) that you shall love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. But he then asked, “Who is my neighbor?”

You have to love lawyers, right? My former board chairman, a prominent attorney, asked if I knew the difference between a lawyer and a catfish. He said, “One’s a scum-sucking bottom feeder, and the other is a fish!” Moving on!

Jesus told the story about a good man who had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead. A priest and a Levite (pastor and associate pastor) both walked past him but did nothing. However, a Samaritan (foreigner) stopped and helped. He was a stranger but took him to a safe place and provided for his care until he recovered.

Jesus asked the crowd, “Which one was the good neighbor?” The lawyer — actually a student of Jewish law — replied, “The Samaritan.” Jesus told the crowd to go and be good neighbors to everyone.

Loving people who don’t look like us, think like us, or act like us is not easy.

When I was in ministry working with those with serious addictions, I didn’t always “like” some of those who came through our doors. But Jesus told me to love them. I may not have liked their behavior, but Jesus commanded me to love them. Sometimes, it was in faith. Not “fake it till you make it,” but faith that if I showed love, my heavenly Father would actually give me love for those who were unlovable, like me.

We had a saying: “If this was easy, everyone would be doing it!”

Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the far Left has gone off the deep end in its hatred for anything he does. The president wants to remove the worst illegal criminals, and they call him a racist. He wants to root out corruption, and they call him a Nazi and a dictator. In their rallies, they scream and yell about how evil Trump and Elon Musk are. They call for fighting Trump until he’s destroyed.

We also see elected politicians standing at microphones and cursing like sailors. For what? Do they think that makes them look tough, strong, or serious? I think it makes them look pathetic. Why? Because they’re lost. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church and said, “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence [strong delusion] so that they will believe what is false” (II Thessalonians 2:11).

It has taken a while in my Christian walk, but instead of hating them, I pray for them. It was not easy at first, but I have asked my Heavenly Father to see them as Jesus sees them: His lost sheep. I still sometimes feel like yelling and telling them to wake up when I watch the TV. But I will accomplish more for His Kingdom if I get on my knees and ask the Lord to save them.

Something to pray about!
Semper Fidelis