CHOOSE TO LOVE

One thing in life that’s really easy to do is seeing the faults in others.

It’s easy to judge, criticize, hold grudges, get irritated, assume.

It’s easy to worry about yourself and get lost in your own little tangle of messes without thinking about someone else’s.

It’s easy to believe that the coworker who got the raise didn’t really deserve it.

It’s easy to think that the girl who let gossip slip out of her mouth is a bad person.

It’s easy to conclude that a person with a rough past will never change.

It’s easy to justify why you have a right to hold grudges and never forgive.

It’s easy to hate.

God used broken, sinful, and corrupt people to change lives. King David (a murderer, adulterer, and deceptor), Paul (a murderer, harasser, and persecutor of Christians), Peter (a three-time denier of Jesus), Rahab (a prostitute) - He used these hopeless, downcast people, and He loved them with absolutely everything He had.

And because of that love, those people’s lives were changed.

Because of love, they were used in extraordinary ways.

Now imagine, just for a second, what it would be like if you showed just one person that kind of love. You looked past their faults, their mistakes, and their past, and you just loved them. Imagine the power behind that love.

The absolute best thing you can do is to get someone to shine. It’s wanting the best for other people. It’s loving them at their worst.

There is more to life than what runs skin deep. We build up these physical barriers from one another or leave up walls from the past. Everyone has a story. Everyone has been shaped into who they are for a reason. You could be the one to bring out the best in another.

Love God.

God told us that the greatest thing we could do was to love. Love God first with everything we have, and then love other people like God loves us.

You are not perfect. I am not perfect. No one is. But yet there is a God that lets us stumble over and over again and has no problem picking us back up each time. There are things He does for us that are never returned with a thank you. There are times He tries to speak to us and we ignore Him. There are moments we doubt and question Him, yet he still calls us His children and tells us that His love will never be separated from us. We are never alone because of His great love for us.

Love others.

Think about it. We all become consumed with ourselves. We worry about what we’ll wear in the morning, what we’ll eat during the day, what we’ll accomplish in the classroom or on the field or at work. We worry about how we are perceived by others.

What if we thought about others as much as we think about ourselves? Wouldn’t that be life-changing for both you and those around you?

What would happen if we just embraced other people and loved them as much as we love ourselves?

Smile. Say hello. Hold open the door. Make conversation. Compliment. Give something. Pay for a meal. Leave a nice note. Let someone leave the parking lot first. Be selfless.

Choose to love today. Love God first, then love others.

Mark 12:30-31

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

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