The past few months my weekly messages have focused a good bit on loving the unlovable, or loving the haters. My reason for this focus has been twofold – (1) I feel it is the most difficult thing God is asking me to do, and (2) I have heard from a number of you that this is also the hardest thing God has asked you to do as well.
Over the last few weeks, I have reviewed a number of my TGIF messages from previous years, and I came across one message that I thought was relevant to this discussion. So I have decided to repeat part of my TGIF message from September 16, 2022. That message began with me thanking Cindy for introducing me to Broadway musicals, which led me having my all-time favorite musical being Les Misérables. The relevant part of that TGIF message 2 years ago is as follows.
Les Misérables takes place in France in the early 19th century. Jean Valjean is the male star of the show who has led a very checkered life, starting out as a common street criminal but eventually discovering love and a more God-led life. He befriends a woman Fantine who asks him to raise her small daughter Cosette when Fantine learns she will soon die. That changes Valjean’s life for the better, and he becomes a Godly man who raises Cosette while still battling issues from his previous life. At the end of the show, the star Jean Valjean is ready to leave this earth to go to his Heavenly Home.
As he prepares for his imminent death with Cosette by his side and Fantine appearing to him, Valjean sings one of the most iconic lines of music ever written for a Broadway musical. As he takes his last breaths, he sings “To love another person is to see the face of God”!!!
We invest a lot of time lately in discussing the need for Godly love for all people, both those that are easy to love and those less lovable. I can’t tell you how often my mind is drawn back to this single sentence from my favorite Broadway show of all time.
I cannot begin to count the number of times I have convicted myself for failing to love an unlovable person based on this simple statement -“To love another person is to see the face of God”. The key is to work on changing our behavior so we can truly grow in our love for all other people we may encounter. In case you would like to hear this incredibly beautiful end to Les Misérables.
John 13:34-35 – I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”
God’s love redeems everything. From God’s love for his people, to a father’s love for his adopted daughter, to love people we deem undeserving, Les Misérables demonstrates the difference that love makes in one’s life and can make in the world. May each of us live the rest of our lives in Godly love for everyone.