Let’s admit it: We all have people in our lives whom we do not like, and there are people who don’t like us. “Liking” is an emotion, and we don’t have much control over our emotions. We cannot simply decide to like somebody. However, we can decide to find the good in those we may not like. We can decide to love them in spite of “not liking” them.
In our first reading this Sunday, David has an opportunity to kill King Saul, who has led an army of one thousand soldiers out to find David and kill him. (It seems that they really do not like each other!) But David, who respects Saul as “God’s Anointed,” refuses to harm him. He finds the inherent good in Saul.
We are all anointed by God, and God has made it so that there is inherent good in every one of us. We must look beyond our “dislikes” and find the good—even in our enemies. The word “respect” comes from the same root as “spectacles,” meaning we respect, or see, the inherent good in everyone.
I have inherited my father’s dislike for arrogant people. Arrogance really turns me off. So, I really struggle at times to look beyond the arrogance and find the inherent good that God has placed in self-centered people. I pray for them. I try to spend energy and time on them. The better I get to know them, the better I am able to see the good in people I may not like. It is a challenge. It takes effort. I often fail. But I try; Jesus told me to!
