fuzzy feeling.
Christian love is an action that rises above, and
at times in spite of, the emotion of the moment.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ response to the
anger from his tormentors was to be silent, or to
speak calmly, and wisely. Often, they melted away
in puzzlement because they had not stirred Him
to react emotionally. His power of love left them
powerless.
Yes, there were times when Jesus expressed
righteous anger. He withered a fig tree and turned
the money exchangers out of the Temple. He
called the religious leaders a brood of vipers. Yet,
that didn’t thwart His deep love. Jesus didn’t stomp
his foot in the Garden of Gethsemane and tell God
He was too angry and hurt to sacrifice Himself in
order to take on his tormentors’ sins—or mine, or
yours. He still went to the cross and, in his last few
breaths, asked His Father to forgive them.
Because Christ first loved us when we were
unlovable, we should in turn love others (action)
no matter how they treat us (emotional reaction.)
So in spite of how we feel at the moment, our faithwalk should govern our actions.
Not so easy, is it? When we’ve been deeply hurt
by someone’s harsh words or have been stabbed
in the back by their actions, anger naturally begins
to churn in our gut. The common human reaction
is to do one or two things: fight or flight.
Some of us may want to sling the mud back into
their faces. Our jaws set. Our muscles tense. We
want to fight back. Others might cower away and
bury the hurt deep inside until it begins to fester.
That type of response builds walls to keep us from
being hurt again.
Neither reaction is productive. One just escalates
the situation, the other avoids it. Both generate
negative results. Jesus teaches us, as Brady was
reminded, to love our enemies instead.
So how do we become Christ-like enough to walk
away from those who anger or torment us? In the
fifth chapter of Ephesians, Paul give three clues—
we should walk in love, walk in light, and walk in
wisdom.
“And walk in love as Christ also has lo