6. Love motivates our praying for unlovable church members.
We can’t change unlovable people. No program will fix the person who is power-hungry or judgmental. Lasting transformation occurs only under the power of God—and that means we must pray for even the church members we like the least.
To not pray for them is to be unloving; indeed, it may be to be more like them than we care to admit.
7. Loving unlovable church members is an act of faith.
Jesus called 12 men to follow Him, and they were not always lovable. They fought among themselves, didn’t always listen, and sought the best places in the kingdom. Still He loved them, knowing what the Father would do through them.
We must love unlovable church members with that same kind of trust and faith.
8. Unlovable people are often loners, and loners need help winning spiritual battles.
The church of Jesus Christ is designed to be a body, a family, an army, a people of God. We have never been intended to fight battles alone; instead, we fight together, guarding one another’s back.
Loving an unlovable church member is one way of helping him fight spiritual battles he’s likely losing on his own.
9. Only genuine love allows us to carry out church discipline when needed.
The time may come when a New Testament church must carry out the hard work of church discipline on an unlovable church member. When that happens, though, it must be motivated by, and carried out with, Christian love.
Anything less becomes ungodly judgment.
10. We are all sometimes unlovable.
All of us sometimes act less than Christian. Maybe nobody sees it, and perhaps it doesn’t happen often—but it’s still un-Christlike. We, too, will have those days when we need undeserved love.
Perhaps others will model then the love we’ve first shown them.
