I stated in my last post that God’s grace gives us the power to love despicable people such as the ISIS terrorists who recently burned a Jordanian pilot alive. If you’re anything like me, you’re wondering how you can possibly love people that you would naturally want to see eternally squashed.

History has shown love for our enemies to be a real possibility; the key lies in learning how to draw upon God’s grace so that we are able to love those who are truly despicable. Like me, you may find some of the following tips to be quite helpful.

1. Be honest about the state of your heart. If you find yourself hating someone, don’t deny your feelings; instead acknowledge them.

2. Confess your lack of love to God and ask Him to change your heart.

3. Remember who you were at some of your lowest points.

4. Ask God to help you see the person(s) through His eyes and for what he or she might one day become.

5. Choose to verbally forgive the person(s) you feel yourself hating.

6. Pray for God’s blessings to come upon that person’s life and family.

7. If it is in your power to do so, extend an act of kindness to the individual(s).

8. Thank God for His amazingly love and believe that He is able to transform your heart.

In reading this list of proactive steps, we quickly get the sense that life isn’t about us passively reacting to unavoidable circumstances. Instead, we learn to actively draw upon God’s grace in the midst of human dysfunction.

I am by no means proposing that this is an easy process. Such amazing love, however, is a reflection of God’s amazing grace at work in our lives as it serves to indicated that we are truly connecting with our benevolent Creator.

photo credit: Despicable Me Gru Halloween Mask 2014, Spirit Halloween, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube. #Despicable #Me via photopin (license)