Christs character concerning not nice people...

I had to change the title to the post because I'd originally written "enemies". Enemies though, is too restrictive of a word. But as general citizens of the world we typically don't have a lot of enemies that we struggle with how to treat. Instead, we struggle with the jerk sitting at the table next to us, the cop writing us a ticket, the neighbor who lets his dog "visit" your lawn.

But what caught my attention tonight was a combination of two things: reading in Acts and seeing the change that took place in Peter and how he changed from who he was to what he became, and reading about Jesus washing the disciples feet. Of the last story, it was particularly Judas' feet that caught my attention. The one He knew would betray Him; He knelt down on the floor, took off his sandals and washed his feet.

So often I want to give up on people that fail me, or even just annoy me. I discount some people as unimportant in my life. But Jesus knew something important - He knew HE was important in everyones life. He wasn't taking stock of whether they were important for His or not.

The only people Jesus seemed to genuinely dislike were bad religious people. Everyone else... He had time for. Everyone else He didn't scorn. Sinners changed around Him, yet you never heard Him telling them they had to do better, try harder. All He did was love them.

If Christ could wash the feet of the one who was about to betray Him... I can be nice to the white SUV that's going to cut me off in traffic tomorrow, or the customer who is outraged because their checks aren't free, or the tenant who doesn't pay their rent.

It's... interesting... being a Christian and trying to love everybody all the time. So often I feel justified in not caring... but it simply isn't true. It simply isn't true.