Real Love

Jesus told his followers that they should love their enemies. That was good advice. Love will triumph over evil and hate, but that is not that as easy it sounds. The basic standard for the treatment of enemies is the so-called golden rule.

Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:33).

That sounds easy, but it quite difficult.

Love is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of harm.
Love does not delight in injustice (1 Cor 13:4-7).

Those who love seek the good of others ahead of their own good. They do not keep the record of harm that is done to them. Instead, they let it go. Those who love do not rejoice when people they do not like experience injustice. Instead, they care intensely about harm to people who used to be their enemies.

Love is costly. Those who love must care for everyone they encounter who is hurt or suffering. The Good Samaritan did this. The injured mand was his enemy. He could have rejoiced that his enemy had got what he deserved, but he did not. He cared for the injured man in a dangerous situation (Luke 10:30-36). He paid for his care, and committed himself to paying any future costs.

The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have’ (Luke 10:35).

The Good Samaritan went beyond an initial act of kindness. He committed to paying for his enemy’s care. Real love has a cost.

I hope that the people who are calling for more love are serious about it. Society will benefit. But they probably do not realise how hard it will be in practice. Without the Holy Spirit working in our lives, we will often fail.

Them/Us
The problem with saying that love triumphs over hate is that it creates another them/us divide. The liberal people who make the declaration believe that they already love everyone. However, they would not buy a house in South Auckland or East Christchurch. They would not go into the rough bars in these areas. Saying that people whom you don’t know are “haters” is hypocritical.

The liberal people who say that love will overcome hate mostly drink in nice cafes and wine bars, where the people they meet are just like them, so it is easy to say they love them (whatever they mean by that).

I don’t believe that there are many people out there who really hate, even in the hard parts of the city. There are plenty of people who are full of fear, but not many hate. So, when we say that there is a lot of hate that needs to be overcome by love, we do the people in those places a disservice.

Saying that love overcomes fear is easy to say, but saying the words does not make it happen. If they really love everyone in the city, these people would go and live amongst those who are struggling and afraid. That would enable love to triumph over fear, and hate.