Q: How do you love an unlovable person?
A: You can’t change unlovable people. You can’t even “deal with” them. But you can develop your love until you can love them just the way they are.
Loving people—no matter how badly they act, no matter how rotten their attitude—is something you can do. And you do it by faith. You do it in the same way that you grow anything that comes by faith: You plant the seeds, water them and let God give the increase of love.
Jesus loved, and He commanded us to love with the same self-giving love “wherewith He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4). He taught us the principle of love. He sowed seeds of love. And, to ensure our success in loving people unconditionally, He gave us the very Spirit of Love who empowered Him every day of His life on earth.
Honestly, you can’t truly love anyone—lovable or unlovable—without the Spirit of God developing love in you. All you can do is realize how much God loves you and make the decision to love others.
If we operate day in and day out in faith that works by our well-developed love, we look forward to every encounter with not just difficult people, but with everyone. We can hardly wait to hear what the Lord has to tell us about them and see what He shows us. And, just like Jesus, we respond to them by saying what our Father says and doing what He shows us.
If we continue in faith and love, God will deal with them, just like He has dealt with us all. God gets all the glory as we show forth His marvelous acts of love.
