Love People!

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27

As part of our two-week Valentine’s Day series, we are today looking at the second command addressed in this verse, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Last week, we established that these words are actually an answer to the question, “Which is the greatest commandment?” We know that we are to love God, but here Christ reminds us that we are also to love other people.

Around the beginning of January, I saw the following graphic on Facebook, and it just resonated with me so strongly:

I had just heard about some young people who were being looked down upon and being treated as “less than” at a church by some congregants, and the whole situation really had me upset, and then not five minutes later I saw that quote. While those exact words are not in the Bible, it seems to me to be a pretty good paraphrase of 1 John 4:20, “ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” These words are just a simple reminder that if we cannot get it together to love other people, than we probably also aren’t going to be good at loving God, whom is not constantly in our physical site.

I don’t know about you, but for me, its sometimes easier to love a perfect God than all of the imperfect people around me! Our perfect God is never rude or selfish, never causes us to wonder what He really thinks about us, and never reminds us of our past mistakes. However, people can be a different story. It would be so much easier to love other humans if they were flawless! We have to stop and wonder though, how many times do we make it harder for others to love us? The answer-- ALL THE TIMES. We constantly act in ways that demonstrate our flaws, whether it be with snippy words, bad attitudes, unforgiveness, or a million other little things. The funny thing though, is that our flaws are pretty much what unite as humans. One thing you can pretty much count on with any human you meet is that he or she will make a mistake at some point in life. Hopefully we can use this fact to help us be more gentle with all of the people that we know, remembering to extend forgiveness just as we hope to receive it.

Today, February 14, is pretty much the one day that we have dedicated exclusively to loving other people. And while the emphasis seems to be on romantic love, it certainly doesn’t have to stop there. Take time today to show the love of God to someone you come across who needs it. It doesn’t have to be something big or costly—in fact, the most meaningful things often aren’t. And I promise—if you look for someone to love, God will put someone in your path. Loving is not always the easiest choice, and sometimes it even calls for sacrifice on our part,  but it is always the right choice, and the one that will bring you the most joy in the end.  Chase after the joy and heart of God today by showing God’s love to someone you encounter! (And then tell us about it in the comments!)