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Are there people in your life you really don’t like? We run into these people on our jobs quite often. I’m examining how to love the people you don’t like.
Yes, even Christians are allowed to have people in their lives they do not like. I know of no scriptural directive that commands us to like everyone. But I know many verses that tell us to love other people. Here are just two of many:
And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister (1 John 4:21).
Jesus said:
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them (Luke 6:32).
It’s clear as Christians we are to love people—all people, yes, even the people we work with. But what about those unlikable people? Since we cannot like them, we usually conclude we cannot love them either. Don’t we have to like people before we can love them? How can we love someone we don’t like?
Part of the problem is we misunderstand the word love. The kind of love you need to love people you don’t like is God’s kind of love. Now, this love is not necessarily a feeling. Though you may experience nice feelings, agape love does not depend on how you feel.
Agape love, God’s kind of love, is an action. The Bible tells us we know God loves us because he sent his Son into the world to redeem us. We know Jesus loves us because he gave his life. And God says he will know we love him if we keep his commandments. God’s kind of love is an action, not a feeling.
Now, that really is good news, because it tells me I can love people toward whom I do not necessarily have good feelings. I can love people toward whom I have no feelings at all. Think: Who are the people you will be dealing with today or tomorrow whom you really don’t like? Will you ask God to help you understand how to love them, even though you don’t like them?