Every life is precious. Every life is beautiful. But life is not all joy and happiness. There are moments of sorrow and pain. God placed a little bit of himself in each and everyone of his creatures. There is so much of God to know that we each express a different facet of this infinite and loving Creator. A diamond is but a lump of carbon until the jeweler cuts it up and reveals the lustrous facets that make it sparkle and shine. The cuts are not smooth. The sharper they are, the more brilliant the diamond.
So it is with every life. Each person has a precious diamond deep inside. Living life is like cutting up a lump of carbon to free the diamond inside. Each life is an unfolding story, unique and beautiful and never again to be repeated. Christ came to reveal to us this truth, which we could not have learned just entirely on our own. He tells us to love even our enemies because even they have precious story to tell. They too reveal to the rest of the world another facet of this infinite and loving God.
This teaching is very hard to accept and many have turned away from Jesus because they found his teaching impractical, not functional and counter-productive. But if I believe that each person and each life is a unique and precious gift from God, that is all the reason I need to love.
Jesus said to the crowds, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” Matthew 5:43-47