Chasing Aggressive Love

The evidence of man’s inhumanity to man grieves my heart, my soul, and my mind. David Andreatta, a columnist with the Democrat & Chronicle, quoted Edward Watson’s statement to Mayor Lovely Warren after the tragedy at the Boys and Girls Club on Genesee Street. He stated,” Blacks are murdering blacks every 32 hours.” Gun violence in our city is out of control. I can’t even turn on the news without hearing about shootings in the City of Rochester. Does someone have to open fire every night?

Don’t even get me started on Russian planes exploding in the sky because of ISIS bombs or Christians crucified and beheaded in Middle Eastern countries. Yesterday, four students were stabbed at the University of California. Not long ago, gun violence hit a community college in Oregon. I watched a music video last night because the title caught my attention. It was “Take Me to Church” by Hozier. The longer I watched, the sicker my heart became. No. I wanted to throw up. By the time the video was finished, I felt like someone punched me in the stomach, mainly because I knew it was based on a harsh reality. Gay men in Russia are killed by men dressed in hoodies very similar to the Ku Klux Klan in their white robes who killed black men out of their hatred. Where is the humanity?

Movie theatres, college campuses, elementary schools, malls, the Twin Towers – What is next?

Now I must speak from the heart. On Halloween night, my granddaughter attended a house party in Henrietta; fortunately, she now realizes it was not the place to be. A fight ensued, and my granddaughter was thrown against the wall when she tried to help her friend. The police broke up the party after a 911 call came in that shots were fired on the premises. My heart sank. No, my knees hit the floor. When it hits a little closer to home, you take notice.

I recently had a student in my ENG 101 class who stated that he didn’t care about the gun violence in the city because it didn’t affect him. He lived in the suburbs. I wondered if he thought the suburbs had a moat and fortified walls to protect him. I looked at him and said, “No one is immune.” Unfortunately, man’s inhumanity to man is growing more violent every day.  There are so many reasons for gun violence; in fact, there are too many to even begin to mention on this blog post. No one is immune to the spiritual condition of the fallen man.

What I have come to understand is humanity’s last breath is one of hatred versus love. I know this post sounds like it came from Debbie Downer or Negative Nancy, but hopefully Encouraging Eva will take you on a journey toward making the difference by creating a proposal toward a climate of change.

My prayer this morning was “Father, teach me to love as you have loved. Let my fear and hatred melt away. Give me the grace to accept the things I cannot change, but show me the ways I can extend my love. Teach me Lord for my ways are not your ways.” He answered me immediately in His Word. Today, my devotions came from Philippians 1. I didn’t look for the answer. Philippians just happened to be the next chapter in my morning devotions.

Philippians 1:9 says, “And this I pray, that your LOVE may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.” I need to aggressively chase after the Love of God, but I also need to aggressively love others. It doesn’t mean I need to be a Bible Thumper and forcefully shove the gospel down people’s throats. No, I need to demonstrate my love through action.

Yesterday, I taught visual rhetoric. One slide on the Power Point presentation showed a little boy with a hand around his throat and tears running down his face. It wasn’t necessarily depicting physical abuse but verbal abuse. On the arm and hand were hurtful words for any child to hear, words like “moron,” “idiot,” and “fool.” After class, a young man came up to me and told me how difficult it was to sit through the presentation, especially when he saw that picture. He shared with me about the verbal abuse he endured from his father, and I could see the tears welling up in his eyes. I gave him a hug. I gave him some counsel about what he could do. My students know I am a Christian. I openly admit it. I am not ashamed to tell them I will pray for them. It is the very reason they come to me when they have a problem.

If God can lavish his love on us, we should be willing to lavish HIS love on those we come in contact with. Who is in your circle of influence? Do you show God’s love by walking a mile in their shoes? Do you empathize with them when they are going through a hard time? Do you offer to pray for them?

I Thessalonians 3:12 says, “…and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people…”

I cannot pick and choose who I am going to love. I need to love the person who shoved my granddaughter into a wall. I need to love the people who have hurt me with their words and actions. I need to love the unlovable. I believe we are coming into a horrific time in our world. Christians may need to stand up to the atrocities against the church. In standing, we will be marked. Do I love the persecutor? Yes. It is my calling. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Love is not an option. It is a command.

I challenge you today to aggressively chase the love of Go, which is already readily available to you. Next, aggressively love not only the people of God within your church circles, but love the people outside the body of Christ. Love them into the kingdom. Love aggressively!