I am reading a book called Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis and so far, it is a great book. It is one of those books that is usually recommended for those who are having doubts about Christianity. C. S. Lewis, who used to be an atheist, presents in this book evidence supporting Christianity and how it must be true.
Just yesterday, I was reading about halfway through the book and he was talking about the commandment given to us by Christ to love one another as ourselves. At first, I brushed it off--because how easy is it to follow this command? How can we possibly love everyone? But then Lewis made a couple of really good points.
First, he compared our love for others to the love that we have for ourselves. Try as you might, you must admit that you love yourself. Now understand, though, that love is different from like. You may not like yourself because of the behavior that you exude, but you feel shame every time that you mess up because you love yourself enough and you know deep down that you can be better.
Now, in the same way, we need to love one another. Even if the person we are having a tough time showing love to we don't particularly like, we can still love them for who they are--a child of God. This is where the common phrase, "Hate the sin, but love the sinner" comes into play.
How do we love someone we don't like, you may ask. The answer is this (and this was Lewis's second point): If we act as if we love them by showing them kindness, then eventually, we will learn to love that person. If we showed hatred towards them and were mean to them every chance we got, then the opposite would happen and we would learn to despise that person.
"This is my commandment that you love one another, that you're joy may be in full."
1 comment:
My teacher in my Christian Belief's class makes a good point regarding this point. Although you must put up with a baby's crying, dirty diapers, temper tantrums, snotty noses, self serving attitude, and disregard for all others, its not very hard to love a baby. You choose to look past all the child's character flaws and love it anyways. He says Love is a choice, not a feeling. And i totally agree with him. Jesus in the garden for sure did not feel like dying for us. In fact, he made this clear when asking God for any alternative. But praise God he CHOSE to die for us anyways. Just as in our relationships with boyfriends, girlfriends, family, etc we may not FEEL like loving them, we can CHOSE to do so anyways. Eventually, as Lewis puts it, by choosing to love them, the feelings will come along afterward.
God bless!
Justin
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