Loving Right

When I thought about loving people from the outside, it seemed like an easy activity. But once I stepped into the ring of love, I realized it was much harder than it looks.

I learned this the hard way when I found myself on the mission field. As I began getting close to some people, they started unpacking some aspects of themselves that were quite difficult to deal with, and I realized that many of these things did not sit well with me. Efforts to deal with them became futile. It took some sleepless nights, intense prayers, and a few dozen calls for me to breathe again because I truly felt like I was being choked.

That was when I learned the first lesson: God wanted me to learn a new dimension of loving like Him.

The Message translation of Matthew 5:44 says:

“I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.”

While I would not have considered them enemies, I did feel a great deal of pain and discontent toward them. It is no surprise that the phrase I heard most often while seeking advice was to “extend grace.”

The only way I found to do this was to obey the command to pray. I began praying for my friends, and I realized that I started to feel much more peace. Prayer has a way of shifting one’s focus. As I prayed, my focus moved from my pain and bitterness to the reality that they are human, facing their own problems and fighting their own battles.

This changed my perspective on how I saw them and even how I viewed others I met. It also reminded me of how God loves me, even when I am at my worst. I have learned to love and accept them as they are, and only by praying for them as I would pray for myself did this become possible.

It is humanly impossible to love another rightly without the divine intervention of God and through prayer.

Anna Abidan
Volunteer- Growth Teams/ Youth Empowerment (Wasaidizi)
Nigeria