7/14/2008 2:56:13 PM

Wow, ya'll are actually praying for God to send difficult people in your life to love??? Great, you can have some of the difficult people in mine...I was wondering what I could do with them.(God answers prayer!Yes! Crazy folks be gone!) Just kidding. This is a great challenge. I didn't realize that my attitude was wrong about "hard to love" people until I read the novel "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. It paralleled the story of the prophet Hosea and the prostitute Gomer, and how God's redemptive love is more patient than anything we've ever experienced, yet has the power to rescue us from deep-seated self-destruction. It showed me that I (the body of Christ) can be such a harlot, and very difficult for a Holy God to love. I keep cheating on Him, and He takes me back. Certainly if God was a human and your friend, you would advise Him to cut me loose(because we look out for our friends and don't like to see them hurt)...but He doesn't cut me loose. In the same way, I was challenged not to abandon a couple friendships with people who are difficult to love for various reasons. I'll refrain from telling the stories...but oh, there are stories...trust me. I'm glad to read that ya'll are seeking out the unlovables. They are like an unreached people-group, and they get turned away quickly because they don't modify their behaviors quickly and they're irritating. Only Christ's love will do. Lord help!

kristier