A Heart for People – Acts 10:24
Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand nowthat God is not one to show partiality.”
When the Lord instructed us to love others as we love ourselves,[1] He did not add, “This only applies to those who are loving and kind.” Nor did He qualify His teaching by saying, “You can skip the part about loving those who fail to love you perfectly, those who act boorishly, and those of a different socio-economic group.” Rather He calls us to love all people, including the unlovely, unloving, uninteresting, and unfamiliar.
For the Father, who loves us as we are, with all our idiosyncrasies and deficiencies, and who made us alive together with Christ while we were still dead in our sins,[2] calls us to reach out to others in love. He tells us to show no partiality for the gracious, engaging, famous, or rich over the difficult, tedious, lackluster, or impoverished. All people are the magnificent work of the Creator Himself,[3] created in His image,[4] pearls of incalculable worth in God’s sight. As Christ’s ambassadors, we should desire for each person, who is precious to the Lord and worthy of our respect, mercy, and kindness, to be reconciled to God and to live in the joy of His fellowship and full acceptance within the body of Christ.[5] We have the responsibility and privilege to love those the Lord brings into our lives and to consider them above ourselves.[6] Whether they are in need of salvation, revival, compassion, understanding, or friendship, God calls us to love them, not to judge them, not to discard them as unlovable.
Has the Lord put an “unlovable” person in your life? Are you acquiescing to the tempter’s leading to give in to disdain, anger, indifference, or judgment, or have you received and obeyed the Lord’s exhortation to love this person without reserve? Choose the latter. Choose love, for to do otherwise is to reject the Word of God, refusing to acknowledge it as true, good, righteous, wonderful, pure, and everlasting,[7] and that would be exceedingly unprofitable for the kingdom of God, as well as for you.
Choose love above everything else. Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your soul,[8] and as one chosen by the King of kings as His beloved, love others as you love the Lord God, Almighty.[9]
Not everyone is lovely
Not everyone is kind
Not everyone is fun to spend an evening with
Not everyone is gracious and looks for ways to give
Not everyone is faithful
Not everyone is good
Not everyone knows exactly what to do
Not everyone is honest, tried, and true
We prefer our friends who make us laugh
The people fun to be around
We love to spend our time with those
Whose judgment we hold sound
We like people we depend upon
To treat us with respect
And show us consideration
As we’ve learned we should expect
But how can we match this thinking
With the teachings of God’s Son
That we should love our neighbor
Extending grace to everyone
How can we pray before the Lord
“We trust You with our lives
We will honor and obey You
Except with those whom we despise”
The truth is that we cannot
For His Word is wholly true
It’s not for us to pick and choose
What we might like to do
The choice is set before us
Let us commit this day
To love others as we do ourselves
And God’s holy Word obey
[1] Matthew 19:19
[2] Ephesians 2:4-5
[3] Job 34:19
[4] Genesis 1:26
[5] 2 Corinthians 5:20
[6] Philippians 2:3
[7] Psalm 119:39, 62, 129, 140, 160
[8] Mark 12:33
[9] Deuteronomy 6:4-6
