I am still reeling, with most of the rest of the world, in shock and horror after the carnage in Beirut and Paris.  My heart goes out to all those affected by those tragic events, got all those who have lost their lives in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Congo . . . you get my drift.

I’ve found myself thinking about all of the different responses to the Beirut and Paris tragedies I’ve read in social media.

But at the end of the day, it’s all about love.

For God so loved the world . . .

Agape love doesn’t ignore evil, or has no ‘consequences’.

But what agape love does, that many of the social media posts bypass, is to love our enemies.  Loving when it hurts, sometimes til it hurts.

This is not some perceived-left-winger-kind-of-love that says a country shouldn’t have an army or that you would open your home to an ax-murderer and offer him some cookies and milk.

This is the strongest, steeliest kind of love there is, the kind Jesus gave and continues to give us.

What if . . . we begin to love people we are afraid of?

What if . . . the fear is hiding an amazing opportunity to love our enemy?

What if . . . we prayerfully ask God to show us an enemy to love?

What if . . . every believer who loves God really asks God ‘what’s your plan for me to love my enemies?’ and then goes out and intentionally loves them?

What if . . . for every opinionated social media post we post, we go out and love the person who owns our mini-market, bank, gas station, our next-door neighbor?

What if . . . there are blessings that God is waiting to pour out on us when we obey this foundational command?

The possibilities are infinite . . . as infinite as God’s love.

So that’s my rant . . . quit complaining about the darkness, pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and do what we were created to do . . . to love.