Love, Love, Love

I've been a Christian for a very long time. Ever since as a little girl I sat with my sister and asked Jesus to come live in me. And then I did it again. And then again to make sure He was really there. Finally, my sister told me once was enough. "You don't have to keep asking Him into your heart!" She told me with the great wisdom of a 7 year old. So I stopped, and just started loving Him.

Love is the wonderful teaching of Christianity that all other religions lack. Love is the reason we have anything else...faith, hope, peace, joy. Love is what fills me with wonder and brings me to tears. Love is the reason I return to Him when I stray. Love is what drives us to feed the hungry and care for the sick. Love.

Friday night at church I had the clearest insight I've had in a long time. I believe it was directly from the Lord for me. We were talking about love. And my pastor's wife asked, what do you think about the saying, "you don't have to like them, but you have to love them?"

And in a moment of clarity I realized the difference between like and love. It's not so much that I like chocolate cake but I love sunsets. Those are really just degrees of like. Like is still all about me. "I like him, he makes me laugh." "I like him he makes me feel special," "I like her, she's so sweet." These are still things that appeal to me, that please me. It's not about the other person, it's about me. I can remember the feeling of being ditched by one friend in favor of another, and doing the same myself. That's about like.

Love is about the other person. Love is placing a higher value on the well being of that person and their needs over myself and my wants and at times even my needs. Love removes myself from the equation, and fills it up with Jesus.

So, in fact, maybe we are not required to like everyone. But if we love them, then maybe in time we can grow to like them. At times it might be impossible to ever really like them or the things they do. But it's not really about us and our likes so much is it?