We have to love Yankees fans too??!?!?

OK, I have friends who are Yankees fans so I will go easy on the Yankee-bashing in this post.  Actually, I guess the point of this post is to say that even Yankee fans need God's love.  :)  Most of you know that I am a die-hard red Sox fan and will take any given opportunity to bash our nemesis, the NY Yankees.  In fact as my wedding reception in North Jersey I felt it was necessary to announce, "Babe Ruth, Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs - all of those guys left the Red Sox and became Yankees...I will not be following in their footsteps." The Yankees are known as the "evil empire", but we are told to forgive so (swallowing hard) that's what I'll do.

In Luke 6:27-28 we read "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."  Up in the Boston area, NY fans are mortal enemies for at least 8 months out of every year. The hatred runs deep and this is known as the fiercest rivalry in all of baseball and has been carried on for generations.  Will it ever end?  I doubt it. Love isn't easy...I suspect if it was then we'd see a much different landscape in this country than we see now.  Loving family and friends is easier, but loving our enemies?  Now that's near impossible, and yet this is what God expects from us.  Why?  "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35).  Because it is so unnatural to love people who hate us that it can only be explained as a "God thing."  It points to Christ - it shows what we're about and our enemies have no defense against it.

Let me offer this up as a picture of what I mean...abortion.  Christians know it is wrong and have very strong feelings about it, and pro-choice supporters feel they are right and scream just as loud from their side.  Is the right response from Christians to yell and scream and carry signs calling pro-choice supporters all kinds of names?  I don't believe it is - those are not loving actions...all that is accomplished is bunch of noise.  Well, something else happens - we get to be known for what we are against rather than for what we really are.  The secular part of society knows we are against abortion or homosexuality or whatever it is instead of seeing that we are compassionate and reflecting God's love.  That verse about does not say that people will know we're Christians by loudly protesting every immoral issue. 

We as Christians need to do a better job of being known for our love rather than for hating what we don't like.  It's easy to say, but doing it is difficult.  Start by asking for God to help you understand how much He loves you and try to be a mirror of that love.  It's difficult to hear God when we're busy yelling...

Your turn...what other "enemies" do we have a hard time loving?
(and practice loving by not bashing the Red Sox in your comments...thanks!)