Determined to love like Him...

Galatians 5:14

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Could it be that there's a typo on this verse? Was it meant to say "Love your GOOD neighbor as yourself" instead? Don't we wish? Well, at times I do. At times I wonder if there any exceptions to this commandment. But the truth is...there aren't.

It's not a surprise to any of us that some people make it extremely difficult to be loved by others. However, when Jesus died on the cross, He did it for all man kind. Thank God He didn't have a list of names of "deserving" people, because my name would not have been in it. Instead, we were ALL lovable in His eyes.

Allow me to introduce you to another area of growth in my life: Loving that hard to love neighbor (friend, boss, family member, stranger). It's obvious that God is teaching me to love, not based on my standards or requirements (as if I was anywhere close to perfect), but based on grace...the same grace He chooses to love me with the times when I'm hard to love...and believe me, there are many.

So what am I doing about this? I'm determined to learn to love like Him. To show mercy and grace to those who need it the most and deserve it the least. This is not something I will be able to accomplish on my own. I can actually think of a couple of people who might make this VERY challenging, but God's word tells me that "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). He can make my love deeper and my heart stronger...