John 13:34

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." ~John 13:34 NLT

God COMMANDS us to love each other.  And He doesn't stop there!  He wants us to love each other the way that HE loves us!  Wow!  Think about how awesome and unconditionally He loves you?! 

He doesn't say 'love the people who are nice to you'.  (Probably because that is already an easy task.)  He wants us to love EVERYONE.  Just as He loves everyone.  Sheeeeeeeeeesh!  This is hard.  Think of someone who has been really mean to you or mean to someone you love or (GASP!) someone who has been mean to your kid.  Now LOVE them.  My first reaction to this is so opposite of what God commands us to do.  He wants us to LOVE THEM.   I want to destroy them.  Of course I do - that is what Satan wants from me.  He wants me to fail.  He wants to trip me up.  In the end, it will all come down to "Who do I want to obey?"

How often do I decide not to leave my comfort zone and befriend someone strictly based on their view of the world (politics, religious belief, social standing, personality, etc...)??  Far too often, I'm afraid to admit.  I think people tend to flock to the people who are pretty much carbon copies of themselves vs. tackling someone with differences.  Back in Jesus's day think of all the people He reached out to.  People with VAST different values than He had.  Imagine how much love Jesus shared - We should be more like that.  "I" should be more like that!

Does God want us to love so we can plant the seed of Christ?  That is what I am interpretting.  We are supposed to be living, walking examples of Christ here on earth.  Christ turned the other cheek when He was struck.  Could I do that today?  I'm working on it.  It's hard.  Especially for someone who is so quick to step up to the plate and battle.  My mouth is a weapon I'm learning.  It can hurt more than any stone thrown.   It trips me up every single day.  But, all I can do is pray and trust that God will start to use it for good..  In the meantime I'm still trying to filter!

Now that I am professing my LOVE for Christ; the eyes of the world are on me even more.  Every word I say, every action I take will be scrutinized.  I would like to think that in time I will lean more on Christ and have less of the old me for the world to see.  I need to be aware of my daily 'walk' as a 'servant of Christ'.  What example of Christ am I leaving behind?  Am I trying to show Christ's love to the world?  I guess I just need to figure this out: Do people feel love from me or do they need a spiritual band-aid after I've come through?

God loves you (and so do I)! 
Remember to pray!  God misses and loves you!
xoxo