“Move toward Jesus together and invite the joy of the Lord to restore the fun of liking one another.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – April 29, 2026
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
A friend told me over a meal recently, “I love and respect my wife, but I just don’t like her right now.” There is a difference between loving someone and liking them, and most people in long-term relationships know exactly what that gap feels like. You love them. Of course you do. But lately, you don’t particularly like who they are at home, how they treat you in private, or what they do to the peace of your inner life. That tension is real, and it’s worth being honest.
The scripture in Ephesians 4:32 says: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Notice what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say like one another. It says be kind. Be tenderhearted. Forgive. These are active, deliberate choices, not feelings that rise and fall on their own. Love, in the biblical sense, is never just an emotion. It is a commitment to the other person’s dignity, even when your feelings have gone cold. That’s the hard work the Lord is actually calling you to do in the power of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
Like is the enjoyable part. It’s what happens when someone is fun, easygoing, generous with you, and brings out your best self. Like flows naturally. But like, it’s also the first thing to go when someone is critical of you in ways they’d never be in public, or when the version of them the world sees is dramatically different from the one you live with. You can find yourself in a strange place, genuinely wishing them well, not wanting harm to come to them, even feeling warmth toward them in certain moments, while dreading being in the same room.
This isn’t hypocrisy. It’s a very human experience. It deserves to be named clearly rather than buried beneath Christian platitudes and inauthentic actions. Ephesians 4:32 sets a high and specific standard: forgive as God in Christ forgave you. That forgiveness wasn’t cheap. It costs something. It was extended not because the recipient deserved it, but because of who God is, not because of who we are. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean pretending the behavior isn’t harmful. It doesn’t mean staying in a dynamic that erodes you. Tenderheartedness isn’t the same as being endlessly tolerant of mistreatment. Kindness to another person doesn’t require unkindness to yourself. Forgiveness means releasing the debt. Not reopening the wounds. Not letting bitterness become the lens through which you see. Forgiveness is for your peace as much as it is for them.
Like doesn’t have to stay gone. Sometimes it leaves not because the person changed, but because the routine swallowed the relationship whole. Practical steps matter here: schedule a date night and protect it like an appointment. Try something you used to enjoy together: a class, a hike, or a weekend in a new city. Bring back inside jokes. Send a funny text in the middle of the day. Laugh together on purpose. Fun, like forgiveness, is often less a feeling you wait for and more a choice you make first. Confide in a community that prays for you and loves you through this.
Sometimes the most spiritually mature thing to say is, “I love them.” I genuinely want good things for them, and I also need to be honest about what this relationship is costing us. Loving someone well sometimes means loving them from a distance. It means having the difficult conversation rather than pretending a closeness that isn’t there. Kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness require you to initiate humble conversations. Move toward Jesus together and invite the joy of the Lord to restore the fun of liking one another. By grace, like the one you love.
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Romans 12:10).
Prayer
Lord, you have shown me a kindness I did not earn and a forgiveness I could not deserve. Let that truth soften what has grown hard in me. Where I have kept a record, help me release it. Where I have been critical, give me gentleness. Where I have withheld tenderness, remind me of how freely you gave it to me. I don’t always feel loving, but I want to choose it. Teach me to forgive the way I have been forgiven, and to love the way I have been loved. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Application
Ask God to show you one small, concrete act of kindness you can offer someone you don’t like right now.
Related Reading
Proverbs 17:9; Matthew 6:14-15; 1 Corinthians 13:4-5; 1 Peter 4:8
Worship Resource
SEU Worship: Slower I Go
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