What?

I drove past a church sign yesterday. On it, were these words.

"In order to be loved, one must be lovable."

Immediately, my mind raced, trying to comprehend the meaning of the words and then reconcile those same words with the teachings of Christ.

I thought of a verse in Proverbs. When read in the King James translation, it reads...

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:

and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
Prov 18:24 KJV

It's possible that this verse served as the inspiration for the words on the sign. However, substituting the words friends and friendly with the words love and lovable, results in an entirely different meaning. A meaning that is sadly apparent throughout the church.

I look back into my own life. There were many times during which I was un-lovable. But God showed his love for me, not only through Christ's sacrifice, but through his people. They chose to love me, as I was.

Too often we, as the church send a message to the world saying, "We will love you if: you look like us, dress like us, act like us and smell like us." Nowhere is that attitude found in Christ's teaching. We may even feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give money to the poor and "allow" someone of lower status to attend "Our" church. But, do we love them? When you see someone who is lost and in despair, the addict, the homeless, the businessman who is working so hard at the expense of his wife and family or the neighbor next door, does your heart break for them? Are you moved by Christ's love for them?

Consider this...

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Rom 5:8 NIV

We, as humans, would not have been considered, by many, "lovable" when Christ gave his life for us in the greatest act of love ever. Who are we to declare someone as "un-lovable" when Christ, by example, loved them? It's happening in marriages, families, homes, churches , communities and the world. Love is often only being extended to the "lovable". It's easy to love the "lovable". But Christ placed the command on the believer to love.

What if we loved when our spouse, children, family, friends, classmates, co-workers and anyone else we may come in contact with are not acting "lovable"? What difference would we see manifesting in our lives?

Are you choosing to love today?