On love, hate, and apathy...

In high school my teacher once asked the class, "What is the opposite of love?" Without hesitation I raised my hand,  and said, "Hate" pretty matter-of-factly. I was shocked that that, was not the answer he was looking for. He went on to explain that when you  love someone you think about them all the time, when you hate someone you think about them all the time, but when you just don't care about them anymore you never think about them. It was an interesting concept, and I wasn't quite certain I believed it. I mean I had always grown up believing the opposite of love was hate it just makes sense right? But then as I considered relationships I had seen I did notice in the case of love and hate there is always a bit of obsession and oddly enough people can go between the two rather fluently (when I say this I'm not saying every relationship but simply that I have seen people go from love to hate and back to love again. Which always blows me away. How is that even possible?) But when it comes to apathy or being apathetic, there's not much more that can be done. Once a person reaches the state of apathy it is rare they will ever come back. I wish life wasn't so complicated and that we could all love each other like Christ. That would be amazing... However on this side of heaven it's just not reality. You can't make someone care about you. You can't make yourself "special" in their eyes. You can't make someone forgive you and move on. Although you can't do those things you can work on your own heart. Never grow apathetic! A very dear friend prayed this for me, that my heart would never grow apathetic (it is a prayer I've echoed countless times). I want to forgive just as I have been forgiven and Love just as I  have been loved by God and desire to be loved by others. Apathy is defined as lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.  And it is a very dangerous place to be especially in regards to the world. As Christians we are called to love. That love is first and foremost unto God but secondly we are called to love others. (Not to be so disgusted with how lost the Lost are that we can't love on them as Christ did) I feel as though that is the condition of church. We are so stuck on making ourselves look good that we are afraid of reaching out.  I just want to end on this verse, it's Matthew 9:36 this the NIV version "When he(Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." In the literal translation it says he was moved with compassion. As you dig into the Greek you will find that the description of being moved with compassion is literally saying your stomach tied in knots. If that is how Jesus felt when he looked over a crowd that is how I want to feel as well. May we always have compassion may we be moved with it to action.... Today, lets let the love of Christ compel us.