“Why would you want to love someone who doesn’t even like you?”
That was the question that a 6th grade boy asked me the other day. He was having a rough day at school and had walked out of his classroom and ended up at a little park two blocks down the street. I volunteered to go and talk to him and see if he would be willing to come back to the school with me. He was sitting on a swing, head down, shoulders slumped, and drawing lines in the dirt with a stick when I walked up and sat on the swing next to him. I didn’t say much (and neither did he), but soon we were walking back towards the school, chatting as we walked.
As we stood on the front steps of the school waiting for his mom to pick him up (he had agreed to walk back to the school with me, but he wouldn’t go inside), we started talking about how hard it is to show love and respect to people, especially when we feel like they don’t like us or respect us. I could tell that he was really thinking and listening as we talked, but his question still caught me off guard. . . partly because I wasn’t expecting it and partly because of the genuine interest and honesty behind it.
I’m not sure if I answered well or not, but I told him that that was an excellent question and then simply shared that I believe that loving people is the right thing to do, that I have always been thankful for people who have loved me when I have been un-likeable, and that I “feel better inside” when I show love to people instead of being rude back to them, even though it is incredibly difficult. Then I told him about a church that is close to where he lives and encouraged him to meet me there on Sunday so that we could learn more about how to love people who are hard to love.
The Lord uses priceless moments like these to remind me why I am here. This is what it’s all about . . . loving others and loving God. Please pray for this young man and ask the Lord to show him the incredible (and undeserved) love that He has for him.
