Loving the Unloveable
11/11/2013
George Poulo


 He hath no form or comeliness; and when we see him
 there is no beauty that we should desire him.
 Is53:2b


    How do we learn how to relate to people?  How do we learn how to see the Messiah?  Isaiah is telling us many people fail to see him because he lacks natural beauty.  Humanly speaking, unless we are physically attracted to the person we have no energy or inclination for the relationship.  The letter of James talks of the sin of having respect for the rich and beautiful and not for the poor and lowly.  Unless we learn how to relate to people we fail to live the gospel.  Jesus in the gospels does not appeal to the natural bent and inclination of the person but to something deeper and more profound.  He is dismissed by the worldly person seeking wealth, pleasure, and freedom and only the downcast and rejected seem to take solace in him.  How do we learn to love the unattractive? 

    First of all we must learn the art of looking without judging.  Judge not lest ye be judged.  We must ask God to give us the gift of spiritual sight.  When we are aware that a certain person is not attractive to us we must make a conscious effort to be kind and respectful to that person.  We must engage in conversation and show interest in the person.  Many times just doing this changes are disposition and we discover we actually like the person and we see beyond our initial bias.

    Secondly, we must learn the art of dying to self.  We must have a Christ centered approach to people.  We must do things heartily unto the Lord and not for personal gain.  If we are self-motivated we may miss opportunities to love a person that God wants us to love.  If we are only looking for personal gain we will not minister effectively or unbiasedly.  By dying to self we overcome selfishness and we die by engaging with just the people we are prone to dismiss.

    Thirdly, we must operate from the Spirit and not from the flesh.  We do this by cultivating a spiritual life where we learn to mortify the flesh and enter into the spiritual domain.  If our only motivating force is sexual we are prone to grave sin.  So we must crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts.  Determine to engage in conversation with those for whom there is little sexual interest.  Unless we learn the art of seeing past the physical we will miss the Messiah.

    Finally become aware.  In seeing others we can also see ourselves.  When we recognize a prejudice we must make a conscious effort to compensate for the fault.  Silence and stillness open the door to awareness and we must ever be sensitive to the inner witness.  Awareness is a great gift for personal development and change.  Without awareness we don't even know what the problem is let alone the solution.

    Jesus came to us in a way that is unnatural and unless we learn how to love the unlovable we will miss the Messiah too.
 

Amen






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