Enemies

I am not a fan of the Yankees.

I have hated the Yankees since the 1996 ALCS Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Why…

During the bottom of the eighth inning with Baltimore up 4-3, Derek Jeter hits a long fly ball and as the Orioles outfielder goes back to make the catch, a fan (I am not going to mention his name because I don't want to give him credit) reached over and caught the ball.

It was interference.

The ump made a bad call and called it a home run.

The Yankees went on to win the game in extra inning.

The kid got treated like a hero.

Now at this time I had distaste for the Yankees, until opening day at Yankee Stadium.

That kid that took the possible out away was given box seats next to the Yankees dugout.

That's when the hatred for the Yankees started and been going strong for 14 years since then.

The last thing I want to do is love the Yankees.

Yet this is what Jesus tells us in Luke 7:27-28…

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

In this same section Jesus says it's easy to love the people you like, but hard for the people you don't like.

Love.

Loving someone is more than just being nice to them, it's doing nice things for them.

Helping them out when their struggling.

Caring for them and helping them out.

No matter how much I dislike the Yankees, we are called to love not to hate.

We as Christians can sometimes confuse standing up for what we believe with hate.

I volunteer at an organization once every while.

This organization while they do great things, is also known for hatred of another organization.

Every time I went to this organization, I don't feel any love for the people they treat as competitors.

Love goes beyond our own understanding.

It's deeper then we could ever imagine.

If we can't love our enemies, how do we expect Christ to love us?

Being a Christian is about loving everyone, not picking and choosing who we want to love.

We are called to love not hate, even if they are Yankees or Yankees fans.

I need this reminder to love not hate.

How about you?

Have a great day.