If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.  Luke 6:32-34 ESV

It’s easy to be nice to nice people.  It is much more difficult to be kind to mean people.  We all know those people who are good, loving, kind and generous.  Those are the people that will give you the shirt off of their back.  Those are the people that will come when you call, no matter what time it is.  When those people need your help, you are much more likely to help them, even if it is out of obligation.

But what about those people that are unloving, stingy and just plain mean.  What about those people that perhaps you have asked for help and they have turned you down or left you stranded? Well our human nature says that we do the same to them.  Human nature says that this is how they learn a lesson.  We teach them that this is not acceptable behavior by showing them how they act and treating them as they treat others.  But the problem with this way of thinking is that while it fits in with our human nature, it is against what the Bible teaches.

Matthew 7:12 tells us to “do to others as you would have them do to you”.  It doesn’t say to do to others as they do to you, it says do to others as you would have them do to you.  It tells us to treat others the way that we want to be treated. In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult things that God calls us to do.  It is very hard for me to be kind to a mean person.  But I have learned something over the years.  Doing so throws them off of their game.  It seems as though people who are mean actually are mean because they are looking for a fight.  Mean people seem to want everyone else around them to be mad also, I guess it’s true that misery really does love company.

I remember years ago there was a lady in our church who was known for being mean.  Over a period of a couple of years, I noticed her softening and becoming really nice.  I noticed that her gradual change had occurred in the two years that our new pastor had been there.  I asked our new pastor what had happened.  He smiled and said, “sometimes you just have to love people into kindness.”  Our pastor wasn’t a pushover, but he was a loving, happy, kind person.  I later learned from another church member that she had a hard life and a lot of heartache in her younger years. In all the years that this woman had been coming to church, maybe no one had taken the time to show her genuine love as our pastor and his wife had done.  Now of course once she became more loveable, we were all more receptive to her and treated her more kindly.  Even in church, we are guilty of not loving the way we should.

Going against our human nature is hard for us, but it is impossible if we are not focused on God.  When we focus on God, it is much easier to do things His way.  This scripture passage tells us that there is no benefit in being kind to those who are kind to us.  When we sit at the great throne of judgement, we will answer for every word that comes out of our mouths.  God will not be impressed when we have been good to those that are good to us.  But we will have to answer for being mean to others, even those that were mean to us.

I am not saying that we should roll over or be anyone’s door mat.  Mean people are usually mean because they are hurting and sometimes we can love away the hurt and sometimes we can’t.  Sometimes we can try to be nice but all we are going to get is more meanness. Sometimes we have to love someone from a distance.  Sometimes the best thing we can do is pray for someone.  You can try to be kind to someone, but may have to distance yourself from that person.

There are a couple of things that we need to remember.  First, we are not only being judged by God, but we are being judged by others.  Now if you are one of those people who say, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks”, well good for you.  But know this, if others are judging you to see how Christians act, what are they seeing?  As Christians, we represent God.  So remember while you are being mean to others, you are destroying your witness. Secondly, that mean person is hurting.  You aren’t going to be able to ease their pain with meanness.  The Bible tells us that love covers a multitude of sins.  The greatest commandment is that we love the Lord with all our heart, the second greatest commandment is that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  When we do this, it is much easier to treat others the way we want to be treated.  Isn’t it neat how this all fits together?

So today remember to focus on God and love the unloveable, pray for those who are hurting and be fully prepared to give an account to God for your words and your actions.  Also remember that others are watching you and judging you.  You may not care what they think, but if you let them down by behaving in an unchristian manner, then won’t you also be letting God down?

Remember as you go out today to be good, kind, and giving even to those that you feel may not deserve your kindness.

Have a great day!