1 John 3:11-24
Love-hate relationships – I think we all experience them. If you have a dog, you may know what I mean. You love your dog when he greets you upon arrival at home and plays with the ball in a cute way. But you hate it when he makes a mess or wants to play when you’re super tired. You love your cat when she sits on your lap and purrs away. But hate it when she scratches your furniture. What about your car or truck? Oh you love it when it runs smoothly and you’re cruising down the highway. But then it breaks down or winter arrives and reminds you of that problem in your car you’ve forgot about for 6 months. The super smooth cruiser suddenly becomes a stupid money pit! Or children – they were so beautiful and cute as newborns – now who is this creature that lives in my house? Or your parents – oh – they were the wonderful caregivers through your childhood. Now they forget things, dress funny and regularly embarrass you.
Then there are actual relationships with other people. We fall in love and everything is perfect. Then you see a wart or a deformed toe or snarly mood or less than perfect breath and you wonder what happened to my prince or princess? Or you get along fine with that person for a while. Then something happens and you find yourself on different sides of an argument. You like them but you don’t like what they’re saying. Love-hate relationships – I think we all experience a sampling of these on a surface level. Maybe we really don’t hate the dog or the other person. We’re just frustrated at that moment. But there’s some people…
