LOVE    

ALL ELSE

For the past couple of Sundays while in quiet prayer at church, the voice of Jesus has been reminding me of this most important command. It is a simple command. It is always within our power. It needs no translation. Sometimes though, it can be difficult to do. It can be something you want to resist- The human in us loves to resist this command when we are hurt, or mad, or tired or selfish. Perhaps it is that you do not have the time, you do not have the money, you do not have the patience, or you do not have the desire to do it.  We all have that person who drives us crazy and gets under our skin. They were rude, they hurt someone you love, they gossiped, they lied. I have actually had internal dialogue with myself over someone like this and wanted to shout “NO” to loving that person! But I didn’t say no, and while I still don’t love them with my heart, I love them with my mindfulness, my actions and with intention to serve my God. And you know what? It works. It is not perfect by any means, but thankfully, He is not expecting perfect. We fail, we get up and try again, that is what He expects. Allow this command to work in your life and bless you especially as we celebrate Easter, spring, new beginnings and new life. As a busy wife and mom, my times for quiet reflection are scarce, but I do find that throughout my daily activities I can cling to a simple thought and end up living out my reflections. As I am running around my daily life in the passenger seat, I am repeating this verse, “Above all things, love one another”. There is a lot going on in the news, in school, in church where at times it feels like we are asked to take a side. This is not what loving one another means. There are no sides in loving one another. When you strip down any circumstance in your  life to the basic question of, “am I fulfilling Jesus’ command to love one another by the way I behave in this situation?“, it actually becomes the easiest path to follow. We are not asked to judge, we are not asked to make others’ life choices, we are not even asked to agree with everyone. Jesus asked us to love one another in ALL things–That’s it. I am thankful to have this verse to fall back on, when so much of the world is in disarray and disagreement, all I have to do is one thing… love a little bit everyday.