Learning to Love

19We love because he first loved us. 20Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. ~ 1 John 5:19-21 

How many of us have no one we dislike?  I’m sure that almost everyone can name at least one person that they cannot stand to be around.  Is this how we, as Christians, are to act?  We often hear the words, “I hate so-and-so!”  Hate is not of God, though, so if we cannot find it in our hearts to learn to love even the most difficult to love, how can we love God? 

God created us because He is love.  Love has to have someone to share that love with.  God cannot hate, because He is love.   

If we cannot love everyone (yes, this can be very difficult at times), we cannot love God.  We must learn to find something to love about each person.  Everyone must have some redeeming quality.  True, there are those that are so very evil that we think that there cannot be anything good in them, yet God still loves them and yearns for them to return to Him, so there must be something there to love.  We just really need to look hard at what that something might be.  By learning to love everyone, we can finally love God as well.  How else can we love something unseen when we cannot love everyone He has created to love that we can see? 

Prayer 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your constant love, even when we know we don’t deserve it.  Help us to love everyone as You do, so that we can love You as You wish us to love.  Amen.

~ Wendy Miller