Tough Love

Be alert, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, be strong. Your every action must be done with love. 1 Co 16:13

Itn't it funny that a man's man, such as Paul, tells the readers to be men and be firm, be strong then tells them a female directive: your every action must be done with love. A woman would get this, a man, no! Sorry guys! Let's face it, when you are in strong mode, love does not compute. You are ready to rip off limbs, scale walls, win the war.

This must a hard directive to grasp. As a woman I struggle with it. I saw, recently, on Facebook, a photo of a soldier who was cradling a child asleep, and he himself was asleep. The story was that this child had been so traumatised that it struggled to sleep and the soldier, who had found the child was the child's connection.

However, we are told to love our enemies. Yesterday at church, I heard a real life drama of a woman who was out, in Australia, playing lawn bowls and witnessed a gunman chasing a man and shooting him. The gunman thought he had finished the man off but the wounded man rose and began to run. The gunman chase him again and again shot him, all whilst this elderly woman was rooted to the ground in shock. The woman then saw the wounded man again try to rise and went to help him escape. The gunman saw it and again began to chase. The woman went to the clubhouse and tried all the doors and only one was unlocked but a woman stood in the way and locked it in their faces. Undaunted my friend's mother took off towards the toilet block, even though it was not lockable, that is where she took the injurd man who was now bleeding profusely. My friend's mother thought this was the end but the gunman did not come, instead he went away, unbeknownst to them the gun had jammed.

The woman was able to get medical help for the wounded man, who had been shot 12 times and he survived. Needless to say my friend's mother was awarded a medal of honour.

The woman in the clubhouse behaved like an enemy and sentenced my friend's mother to death. My friend struggled with forgiveness for a while. Yet eventually the love of Christ won through. My friend's mother had been strong, a real hero, she was acting I love towards a complete stranger. She was then challenged to love the unlovely behaviour of her colleague.

I am constantly challenged to love. How about you?