Thought for the Week – Loving Others

So I am changing this to thought for the week, as coming up with a daily thought is becoming difficult.

Anyway…. My thought for this week is about loving others. Sounds simply right? You know, just being nice, helping out every now and then? Actually, loving others involves a lot more than that. See, we tend to forget that love is about more than just how we feel. We are more than willing to show love when we are happy, or when that person has been especially nice to us. But what about when we are in a bad mood? What if that person has hurt our feelings? Should we still love them even then? The answer is yes.

You know how you will have those days when you just want to do this to everyone?

Yeah, we all have them. So we should still show love? Yup. Because you see, God calls us to love everyone, all the time, regardless of how we feel, or how they treat us. “Really?” You might say. “Surely the Bible doesn’t REALLY say that.” Well, if you will turn your attention to Exhibit A…

“Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”” Matthew 22:37-39

 

I don’t see anything about “unless you are in a bad mood” or “except when your neighbor is mean to you”. Because love is eternal. And while we will never have the perfect love that Christ has, we should strive to reflect that perfect love everyday. For example: Lately, I have a bad habit of snapping at my sister when she says something that upsets me. Should she be saying things to me that upset me? Nope. Should I snap at her just to upset her too? Nope.

So let’s all strive to be a little nicer, and show God’s love to everyone. You never know, you could be the only glimpse of God that they see. So let’s all make a goal to think before we speak, and consider if what we are about to say will show that person love. In closing, here is a verse that gives the definition of love.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8