Loving the Unlovable

Loving the Unlovable

Reconciling with our enemies.

Delba Bartolome de Chavez wiles from the Philippines. She has taught in secondary schools, organized and conducted church choirs, edited the mission newsletter and writes articles forher local Shepherdess news­letter She is an avid reader, enjoys traveling and meeting people, gardening, badminton, photography and children. She has five chil­dren: two boys, twin girls, and an adopted nephew.

A male co-teacher, who became princi­pal when my hus­band was called to another admin­istrative work, accused me in public of malversing funds. Since there was no truth in the charge, I reacted strongly to his accusations. We exchanged some cruel words.

Two weeks went by and nei­ther my accuser nor myself made any attempt at reconciliation. As each day passed I found my resent­ment growing and growing. Soon I was unable to sleep or eat.

After much prayer, I took the initiative and went to see him in his office. Naturally he grew quite defensive as I told him how unjust his accusations were and how hurt I felt. Unfortunately, nothing was resolved in the encounter.

The trauma of being charged for something I had not done settled over me like a black cloud. I secluded myself and avoided re­sponsibilities. I became more depressed as days passed. God knew I was innocent, yet the accusations weighed heavily on my heart.

Finally, I asked the chairman of the school board to mediate. He invited the principal and me to his office. The meeting began with prayer, and we were each given a chance to relate our side of the inci­dent.

It was at that meeting that 're­alized that explanations would be useless. Instead of calmly discuss­ing the issues and solving the prob­lem, the principal hurled more vicious remarks at me.

It was then that God spoke to me, "Love him. Forget every word he has uttered. I know you didn't do it!"

I turned to my accuser and gently told him, "Let's end this con­frontation. We will never resolve the problem by throwing 'rocks' at one other."

With the chairman as witness, I apologized to the principal for the remarks I had made.

Sensing the direction our dis­cussion had taken and perceiving my changed attitude, my accuser broke down sobbing, "Can you forgive me for all the pain I've caused you?" We both realized the long process of healing had just begun.

Christ said: "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?" (Matt. 5:46).

Delba Bartolome de Chavez wiles from the Philippines. She has taught in secondary schools, organized and conducted church choirs, edited the mission newsletter and writes articles forher local Shepherdess news­letter She is an avid reader, enjoys traveling and meeting people, gardening, badminton, photography and children. She has five chil­dren: two boys, twin girls, and an adopted nephew.