Love One Another

Jesus left us with two commands. One command tells us to go into all the world, making disciples of all people and teaching them to obey all that He taught us while also baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The other command comes two-fold: Love God with all that you are and love people as you love yourself.

I often hear fellow Christ followers lamenting that "it's just soooo hard to love others!" I have to admit, I don't understand that line of thinking. Yes, there are moments when I conveniently "forget" the command and with all my selfishness begin to love...me! But, the more I grow closer to Christ, the more His unselfishness towards me glares from the cross. You see, I find that when I put His words into practice, the loving others part really isn't so hard. The part that is sometimes difficult is dying to myself and allowing Him to have all of me. I remember singing "You are My King" one time in a seminary class. The professor--who always started class with prayer and a time of singing worship songs--stopped us at the end of the song. He stopped to pray the following (and I paraphrase), "The last line says "In all I do, I honor You." Then he continued, "Oh, Lord, I'm a liar! How can I sing to you those words without pausing to reflect on the fact that I don't honor you with all that I do? Forgive me, Lord!" And, then he encouraged us to sing, "In all I do, may I honor You."

Was he shirking responsibility by sticking that one word in? Was it a response of "I'll try, but I can't guarantee," knowing full well that he wouldn't pull through in the honoring God part? No, I believe he just gave us a simple reminder that while we wish to honor God in all we do, we sometimes fall short. Like loving one another.

I fell short yesterday after a long day of organizing our home and washing several loads of laundry. At about 9:30 pm Angel asked me to make him something to eat. I grumbled. I complained. I gave him the Nelson look. (For those of you that don't know that look, it's that kind of "you've-got-to-be-kidding-no-way-I'm-doing-that" kind of looks.) Then that still quiet voice reminded me that I had just taught some children on Sunday night about loving one another. I made a few burritos and I asked him to forgive me. I went to bed much happier than I would have otherwise.

We all fall short. It sounds so cliche, but pray about how you can keep from falling short of loving one another. Help someone with a task unexpectedly. Wake up earlier than your spouse or roomate or friend and do something surprising for them that will make their day easier. Share a word of Scripture with someone who needs it, whether you know the person or not. Smile. Tomorrow, when the world celebrates "love" with cards, flowers, and chocolate, why not celebrate it with true love? (Then have a little chocolate on the side!)

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 4:19-20