Life-changing words from Neil today: You may like someone because of who he is; but you love him because of who you are.
I’ve got people in my life who are hard to love – how about you?
In one sense, I’m off the hook. I don’t have to chase down every difference and resolve it favorably, or – worse yet – change that person or their behavior so they are more loveable. I can just let them be who they are, and I don’t have to do a thing about it, because they don’t have to earn my love.
For me, it’s freeing to think about it like that! Love can be a reasonable goal, because it only depends on me and my choices. Nobody can block me from loving that difficult person!
But in another sense, now all the burden is on me to get over myself and be loving… I love what Neil has to say: If you say you don’t love someone, you have said more about yourself than about that other person. Specifically, you’re saying that you haven’t attained the maturity to love him unconditionally.
Ouch! So if someone is a pain and hard to love, I’m the problem? Apparently so. The good news is that I don’t always have to feel warm and fuzzy towards them; I just have to choose to act in loving ways. That I can do.
You can be sure that God will put someone in my path today who will challenge me in this… Bring it on! (I hope…)
No comments:
Post a Comment