Deuteronomy 10:17-19
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:17-19 (NIV)
I’ve seen this verse and verses like it* making the rounds on social media a lot lately. One might have to be living in a cave to not know why these verses are so prevalent today. But being a Christian, a follower of Christ, isn’t about politics. It is about trying to live the life Jesus asked us to. The life Jesus modeled for us.
Love above all.
I feel virtuous typing it. Like love is easy. Like I’ve got love figured out. But I’m not sure I’m very good at loving. Especially those who I don’t agree with.
Don’t get me wrong, we can disagree if pineapple belongs on pizza (it does not) and I can love you. We can even disagree about politics, and I can still love you. But I’m struggling loving those people who I believe aren’t “defending the cause of the fatherless and the widow and loves the foreigner” residing amongst us. Especially the ones who claim to be Christian.
I think for the most part, they’d say they do defend the orphan and the elderly as well as the foreigner but their actions (their vote, their rhetoric, their words) show me (I believe) otherwise.
How does one love someone who seems to be willfully hurting their fellow humans? How does one love a person who by their vote, their political support, their actions turn a blind eye to their struggling neighbor – whether a foreigner or someone who just needs assistance?
I don’t know. Because I’ve not been very successful at it. I know Jesus loves – lepers, traitors and the unlovable. And Jesus calls us to love - God, thy neighbor, thy self and even thy enemy.
Obviously I’m not Jesus because that type of total love doesn’t come so easy to me. But because I am a follower of Christ, a true Christian, I’ll keep trying.
Questions for Reflection:
- What does love – being loved and loving others - mean to me?
- How can I love those who feel unlovable?
Prayer:
Please help me love my neighbor as myself. Help me love the unlovable. Help me love like Christ. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
*Leviticus 19:34; Jeremiah 7:5-7; Deuteronomy 27:19
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