Matthew 5:43-44
You have heard people say, "Love your neighbors and hate your enemies." But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Several years ago, I learned a valuable lesson about “loving your enemies.” If you have heard this story before, please forgive me… but I think it bears repeating. I had driven my brother to Little Rock to be admitted to the hospital for experimental medication to help and control the rapid advances of his acute liver failure. The doctors felt that a “medical cocktail” used for the treatment of AIDS might be beneficial, although my brother did not have the “numbers” to support the need for this treatment. And ultimately, after a few days of having the drugs administered, Tim returned home, where the treatment did little more than make him violently ill, and he decided to suspend the medications.
But on the day he was admitted, my brother sat in the admissions area of the Oncology Unit with two Registered Nurses and answered the questions on the admissions form. Tim was an R.N., and as the nurses asked questions, he rattled off medically complicated answers that meant something to the three of them, but totally went over my head. And then one of the nurses asked, “So exactly why are you being admitted?” Without a second thought, he answered, “I’m HIV positive.”
There was no audible gasp, but I felt it anyway. And the room turned icy. The once-friendly nurses began to ask curt, to-the-point questions and offered little to no reaction as my brother responded. To his credit, he appeared not to notice, while I sat on the couch nearby and fumed. I was furious. These women were supposed to be professionals. They dealt with HIV patients every single day… they knew there was nothing to fear. Yet they acted as if my brother had just told them he was radioactive.
And then, Tim did something I will never forget. He reached into his duffle bag and produced a package of Smarties® Candies. Tim was a fanatic about candy – he loved the stuff, and he never traveled without it. He pulled out that package, held it in the air and asked, “Smarties®, anyone?” Taken aback, the nurses looked up, and then one of them began to laugh. I knew in that moment that by the end of the week, my brother would have won the hearts of every person on that floor of the hospital, and then some. His ability to “love his enemy” had made the difference. And sure enough, when he left five days later, I think more than one nurse cried.
See, we have a choice… we can let the devil have his way with us and take things personally and make mountains out of molehills. We can develop vendettas against those we think have “done us wrong,” and go around sad and miserable over every single transgression dealt us… and there will be plenty! Or, we can choose to pray for those who would dare to wrong us. We can rise above the pettiness and the judgment… the disrespect and the dismissal of others… and we can be the children of the Most High God we’re called to be. We can be the ones who don’t get upset… who don’t have ruffled feathers… who love even the unlovely, just as Jesus did.
What mode of operation will you chose? Will you only love those you perceive to love you in return, or will you offer the love of Christ to even your “enemies?” Do you have what it takes to say, “Smarties®, anyone?”
©2010 Debbie Robus
You have heard people say, "Love your neighbors and hate your enemies." But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Several years ago, I learned a valuable lesson about “loving your enemies.” If you have heard this story before, please forgive me… but I think it bears repeating. I had driven my brother to Little Rock to be admitted to the hospital for experimental medication to help and control the rapid advances of his acute liver failure. The doctors felt that a “medical cocktail” used for the treatment of AIDS might be beneficial, although my brother did not have the “numbers” to support the need for this treatment. And ultimately, after a few days of having the drugs administered, Tim returned home, where the treatment did little more than make him violently ill, and he decided to suspend the medications.
But on the day he was admitted, my brother sat in the admissions area of the Oncology Unit with two Registered Nurses and answered the questions on the admissions form. Tim was an R.N., and as the nurses asked questions, he rattled off medically complicated answers that meant something to the three of them, but totally went over my head. And then one of the nurses asked, “So exactly why are you being admitted?” Without a second thought, he answered, “I’m HIV positive.”
There was no audible gasp, but I felt it anyway. And the room turned icy. The once-friendly nurses began to ask curt, to-the-point questions and offered little to no reaction as my brother responded. To his credit, he appeared not to notice, while I sat on the couch nearby and fumed. I was furious. These women were supposed to be professionals. They dealt with HIV patients every single day… they knew there was nothing to fear. Yet they acted as if my brother had just told them he was radioactive.
And then, Tim did something I will never forget. He reached into his duffle bag and produced a package of Smarties® Candies. Tim was a fanatic about candy – he loved the stuff, and he never traveled without it. He pulled out that package, held it in the air and asked, “Smarties®, anyone?” Taken aback, the nurses looked up, and then one of them began to laugh. I knew in that moment that by the end of the week, my brother would have won the hearts of every person on that floor of the hospital, and then some. His ability to “love his enemy” had made the difference. And sure enough, when he left five days later, I think more than one nurse cried.
See, we have a choice… we can let the devil have his way with us and take things personally and make mountains out of molehills. We can develop vendettas against those we think have “done us wrong,” and go around sad and miserable over every single transgression dealt us… and there will be plenty! Or, we can choose to pray for those who would dare to wrong us. We can rise above the pettiness and the judgment… the disrespect and the dismissal of others… and we can be the children of the Most High God we’re called to be. We can be the ones who don’t get upset… who don’t have ruffled feathers… who love even the unlovely, just as Jesus did.
What mode of operation will you chose? Will you only love those you perceive to love you in return, or will you offer the love of Christ to even your “enemies?” Do you have what it takes to say, “Smarties®, anyone?”
©2010 Debbie Robus
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