Loving your neighbor.

Are we to love everybody all the time, or is there a point at which we can stop loving someone?

You frequently hear the addage "Hate the sin; love the sinner", but does that really apply to every person and every situation?

For instance: ( http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364983,00.html )

I just read this article about a grad student in NYC that was repeatedly raped, sodomized, forced oral sex, and tortured both physically and mentally for 19 hours. The attacker ordered her to gouge her own eyes out with either a knife or scissors, and when she refused, he tried to blind her twice by throwing bleach in her face. Breathing the bleach burned her lungs. He forced her to swallow massive amounts of pain pills washed down with several beers. The pills caused her liver to fail. He glued and duct-taped her lips closed. He slit her eye lids with a butcher knife. He poured boiling water on her twice. He ordered her again to gouge her eyes out with a knife he propped up in some clothing and she indicated she would but intended to stab herself in the neck to commit suicide quicker than how he would kill her. She missed the knife, and the enraged attacker beat her savagely until she blacked out. He then set the apartment on fire with her tied up to the frame of a futon and left. The fire was spreading quickly by the time she regained consciousness. She managed to break free from the futon and found help outside. She spent 2 ½ weeks in 3 different hospitals, and several months in physical therapy and outpatient burn treatments.

This event is too horrid to even describe, and yet this is just one of many events that take place during any given week around the world in the past, present, and future. It is natural for us to be outraged and desire vengence against the aggressor, and it is equally natural for us to be sympathetic and compassionate for the victim. But is the aggressor worthy of compassion?

I recall the demon possessed man of Gadarenes. Jesus loved him enough to cast the demons out and free him from that bondage. If this man in NYC isn’t possessed, it seems that he has certainly given himself completely over to evil.

Jesus instructs us (scripture from Matthew 5): "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?"

Keep in mind, while it is undoubtedly a horrible and disturbing event, it is just a news article you read about some stranger hundreds of miles away. You are fortunately detached from the horrors and emotions and free to continue your life without ever thinking about it again instead of living with it daily. What if this victim had been an aquaintance? Or a friend? Or a family member?

Or you.

One of the first things that obviously comes to mind is Jesus' crucifixion at which He prayed to God the Father "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." He demonstrated loving those who persecuted Him. As Romans 5:8 says, God demonstrated His love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

While there is more to present, which will probably arise in discussion, let's consider these initial questions:

1) Is it possible, through the love of Christ, to love this man?
2) Is it required, through the love of Christ, to love this man?
3) If it is, how, through the love of Christ, do we love this man?