If you thought someone wanted to harm a loved one of yours or even you, would you still be willing to reach out and befriend them? How about if a group of people had a reputation for harming people like you—would you make an effort to get to know them?

Recently, I met some people with such a calling. They felt fear and dislike toward a certain group of people, but they sensed God challenging them to love them anyway. A lot of their feelings had been encouraged by the world’s standards, but they chose to follow God’s higher ways. When the Lord impressed them to reach out to this group of people, they asked Him to change their own hearts and give them compassion.

As I listened to their testimonies of how Jesus changed them, I rejoiced. They no longer harbored any animosity towards this people group. The Lord had given them new hearts filled with His love, and they had been able to bring the gospel to these people they had once feared and hated.

The best part was hearing from the people they had won to Jesus. They, too, had previously felt enmity towards people of different faiths. They were well trained in polemics, so the initial meetings over meals had been debates. However, over time, friendships formed, and the love of God broke down barriers and changed lives on both sides.

Listening to both sides made me see that each side started with their own tainted motives. However, as the relationships grew, the Lord wove their hearts together in a beautiful tapestry of love, forming a supportive circle of friends who now all work together in ministry, reaching out to the world’s unlovables by allowing God to love through them.

May we all be challenged to love the seemingly unlovable people around us and become conduits for the Lord to work through us!

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