When WWJD Gets Difficult

I don't struggle with loving my enemies. Or, I do struggle with loving my enemies, except that I don't think of my enemies very often or even have enemies in any traditional sense. I struggle to love people who abuse children or blow up buildings or drop bombs, but not with loving any specific people who do these things just because I don't really know them.

I don't struggle with loving my neighbor. Whether my neighbor is your average Joe on the street or my literal neighbor, this isn't a problem. My neighbor is easy to get along with and loving him comes easy too.

I struggle to love the guy who talks during the movie. I struggle to love the guy who keeps trying to draw attention to himself throughout last night's Wilco show. I struggle to love the guy who walks into BookPeople talking on his cell phone and doesn't stop just because we're there.

These are the times when being a Christian becomes real for me. As important as those epic moments of reconciliation and forgiveness are, these are the moments when I most need to ask myself "what would Jesus do?"

Jesus wouldn't force that guy to eat his cell phone or strangle a rabid fan with his own Wilco banner or even get movie guy thrown out of movie theatre. Jesus would be patient and kind and self-controlled. Which is hard for me.

Assuming you'd like to be more like Jesus, what are the ways in which you find this the hardest to do?