A classroom conversation about love sparks a thoughtful journey of wisdom, patience, and growing curiosity about forgiveness and faith based on Jesus and the Bible.
Isabel* looked around the classroom and then raised her hand boldly, “Professor,” she said respectfully, “you’ve left out one kind of love.” The topic of the day was the different kinds of love, and Isabel recognized an opportunity to plant a seed for the gospel.
“And what kind of love would that be?” asked the teacher.
“Love for enemies,” replied Isabel.
The lecture continued, and it seemed that Isabel’s comment hadn’t made much of an impact, but after class, Lina, a classmate, approached Isabel and asked her to explain what she meant by “loving your enemies”.
Before Isabel could answer, Lina spilled out the anger and hate she had for a dear cousin who had betrayed her confidence and caused her great shame. Her words were harsh, fueling resentment with an escalating intensity that culminated with the confession that she knew her hatred was hurting her more than the offender.
“I would like to be free from this, but how could I ever forgive my cousin?” Lina asked, distress edging her words.
“Well”, Isabel replied, breathing a prayer for wisdom,” we can’t do this as normal people–we need help from God, because God is the only one who gives strength.”
“Which God are you talking about?” Isabel’s classmate asked. “Our God doesn’t say that.”
“My God says that,” replied Isabel.
“Can you tell me about this God? I’m so tired of these feelings I have,” came the response.
With such an exciting opportunity to share, it would be understandable if Isabel had launched into a series of Bible studies on the spot, but God gave her the wisdom to take it slowly and think about how to retain her classmate’s interest.
“Yes, I’m happy to tell you about him, but are you ready to hear and believe what I’m going to tell you?” Isabel questioned.
“If you convince me, yes,” Lina responded immediately.
“Do you know about Jesus?” Isabel asked.
Lina answered confidently, “Yes, I’ve read about him in my holy book–he’s a prophet who had the spirit of God in him.”
Isabel continued: “I know more about him than is mentioned in your book. First, he’s the only prophet who never made any mistakes.”
“No others made mistakes?” her classmate responded in disbelief.
“Mention any name, look them up online, you’ll see. I have to run to class, but I’ll print some information out for you, and we can talk tomorrow if you’d like,” said Isabel, bringing the exchange to a close.
“Yes, please!” replied Lina.
And so began Isabel and Lina’s conversations. After a couple of informal meetings, Lina asked Isabel if they could study together. Again, Isabel resisted the urge to start right then and there. “I wanted her to be thirsty to know–I knew I shouldn’t give her everything at once if I wanted to keep her curious,” says Isabel.
After Lina expressed the conviction that Jesus was the only pure one, Isabel asked her if she knew what he was doing on earth and how he loved his enemies. Lina shook her head, and Isabel nodded, “Next time we’ll talk about that…”
That next conversation took more time as Isabel used the Bible to show how Jesus did good to everyone, regardless of race or religion, even performing miracles for known sinners. Isabel also highlighted how Jesus never did anything for recompense.
“So where were the enemies to love?” questioned Lina, unable to imagine that anyone would hate someone like that.
“We’ll get to that next time,” replied Isabel.
When Lina and Isabel met again, they read and discussed the crucifixion. Isabel showed her classmate pictures on the internet and parts of the Jesus movie.
“They did all that to him?” exclaimed Lina, disturbed.
“Yes,” replied Isabel. “In fact, the Bible says that he prayed for God to forgive the people because they didn’t know what they were doing. He showed the greatest love–asking God not to count their sin against them… And I can tell you many stories of people who have done that, following Jesus and his example, forgiving their enemies.”
“I want to know your God more so I can have this kind of life,” said Lina earnestly.
“I will tell you more,” smiled Isabel. “And you have the freedom to choose.”
And so the conversation unfolds, a story to be continued.
*Not their real names