Loving Those Who Hurt You

As Jesus followers, we talk a lot about love. We talk about loving our neighbors, as well as our enemies. We talk about including strangers, as well as people with whom we disagree. We do a lot of talking, but when do we put love into action?

Every day you meet people with different experiences from your own. Who has helped you put your love into action? Who has taught and modeled for you the love that makes a difference in you, your family, your community and the world?

It is my hope that the following will help assist you in becoming more the person God created you to be, which means becoming a more loving person toward those who have hurt you.

Read Matthew 7:43-44

“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…”

Reflect on Matthew 7:43-44

In 1960, I started first grade in an elementary school in a small town in West Virginia. Every day, I walked up the sidewalk to the school with other children. I talked and laughed with friends as I made my way into the building. I was welcomed, by a smiling teacher, into a classroom full of children. I was just a kid starting my educational journey with no care or concern for what was going on in the world.

That very same year, a little girl by the name of Ruby started first grade in an elementary school in New Orleans. Every day, as she walked up the sidewalk to the school, she was escorted by federal marshals. She was not welcomed by smiles. The sidewalk was lined with adults shouting threats at her, calling her names, and screaming for her to go home. Enraged parents pulled their children from the school. Due to the chaos, Ruby spent her first day of school in the principal’s office, not because she had done anything wrong, but for her protection. She was just a kid starting her educational journey which would change her city, her state, her country, and the world.

My teacher was my neighbor. I could stand in my backyard and see her house. Ruby’s teacher came to New Orleans from Boston. She was the only teacher willing to accept Ruby. I was in a classroom full of children just like me, Ruby spent her first year in a classroom by herself. Every day, I played on the playground at recess, and I ate lunch in the cafeteria with my friends. Every day, at recess, Ruby played in her classroom and ate lunch in the same classroom with her teacher. Neither Ruby nor I missed a day in our first-grade year of school. But as you can see, our experiences were worlds apart.

Ruby Bridges and I were six-years old. But Ruby at 6 years old learned and lived something that has taken many years for me to learn and all my 71 years to live.

Robert Coles, a noted author, and Harvard psychiatrist volunteered his time to work with Ruby that first year. Every day he would talk with her and offer her assistance to cope with the crisis. One morning, on the news, he noticed Ruby walking up the sidewalk while people screamed at her and threw things at her. In the midst of the turmoil, Ruby suddenly stopped and said something before walking on up the sidewalk. Then the marshals picked her up and took her into the building.

When they met later that evening, Coles asked her what she said to the marshals. She said, “I was not talking to the marshals.”

He said, “I saw you on the news. I saw your lips moving.”

She said, “I was not talking to the marshals.”

He said, “Well, what were you doing?”

She said, “I was praying for those people who were hollering at me. I had forgotten to pray, and I was trying to go back and pray for them as I walked to the school building.”

Coles shook his head and said, “You were praying for the people who were screaming at you?”

She said, “Yes, my mama taught me that when people speak mean of you, you pray for them just like Jesus prayed for the people who spoke mean of him.” Then she said, “You see, when Jesus lives in your heart, you just can’t hate anybody.”

Through her mother, Ruby learned to love and pray for the people who were mean to her. She had learned that when Jesus lives in your heart, you just can’t hate anybody. *

“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.”

Respond

O God, come and live in my heart so I can love the people who have hurt me, who disagree with me, and who wish to do me harm. Fill me with your love so that my heart is big enough to include each person you send my way. Help me to be aware of your presence so that everyone I encounter will meet you in me. I offer myself to you in the name of Jesus. Amen

Return

Give God thanks for the day. Who did you love and pray for today? Who taught you to love your enemies and to pray for the people who hurt you? Give God thanks for the people who have helped shape your life into the person you are today?

Where is Ruby Bridges today?

When I shared the story of Ruby Bridges in a sermon several weeks ago, several of you asked what happened to Ruby.

Ruby Bridges’ courage cannot be understated. She is a vocal advocate for anti-racism and encourages children to make meaningful connections with peers of all races. She has upheld the legacy of her parents, Abon and Lucille Bridges, her first-grade teacher, Barbara Henry, and child psychiatrist, Robert Coles, all of whom sought to provide her with a solid foundation to enact change.

She continues to pave the way for generations to come through her various advocacy efforts. Bridges’ contributions have been recognized worldwide. She holds various honorary degrees from Connecticut College in 1995 and Tulane University in 2012. In 2000, she was made an honorary Deputy U.S. Marshal. Ten years later, Bridges was honored at the White House. As of 2024, she was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Ruby, through the Ruby Bridges Foundation, continues to host speaking engagements and write children’s books to strive for an end to racism in America. (Shay Dawson; Edited by Corina Gonzalez). For more information go to: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruby-bridges

She has said, “All of us are standing on someone else’s shoulders. Someone else that opened the door and paved the way. And so, we have to understand that we cannot give up the fight, whether we see the fruits of our labor or not. You have a responsibility to open the door to keep this moving forward,” The Guardian, 2021

Visit the Ruby Bridges Foundation https://rubybridges.foundation/#rubys-story for more information.

May the love of God fill your heart to love as you have been loved.