It’s easier to reject difficult people than to love them. But Jesus is clear on this – “Love your enemies! Do good to them” (Luke 6:35).
This is a problem for us. We might want to love our enemies because we know we ‘should’, but the mountain that stands between us can’t be surmounted by the strength of good intentions. It’s too hard. So instead we fall back on offended-ness, avoidance, anger.
The thing is Jesus doesn’t just give us a directive and then say, “Good luck with that!” No, He gives us an example. He loved first. That love stretched all the way to the Cross, where He laid down His life. He never once said, “Not my problem.” Instead He took the burden of all our problems and offered us something far better in exchange – His Spirit.
It’s the Spirit of God in us that makes it possible to love our enemies, to do good to those who are difficult, burdensome, or downright mean. It’s the Spirit of God, who willingly entered into the mess of our broken world, that enables us to enter into the mess of broken relationships and do the hard work of making peace.
Anger is easy, love is hard. Do hard things.