I love you just the way you are

There is really only way for us to transfer our love for Jesus onto another person, and that is to love them, just the way they are.   You will only be able to show, teach or convince a non-believer that Jesus is true, by your actions.  Keep this in mind when you scowl at someone who looks differently than you, or has a past that is not like yours.

 We all come to God in our own way.  That path that I have taken to come to God is not the same path that you will take to come to God.  We can’t judge someone for not being at the same level as we are or for how they got there.  The only way to really inflict change in another person is to love them as they are.  To accept them for the person that stands before you.   

There are many times in every day that we are given the opportunity to accept people for who they are, and how they got there.  Many times we try to change them, mold them and shape them into who we are, or think they should be.   When we do that and we inject ourselves or our conditions on to them how are we any better than the Pharisees were with Jesus?  How are we exhibiting anything but a judgmental, self-inflated sense of self? 

Many people we come across are probably struggling with something as well.  Maybe they are not struggling with the same things you are, but they are in their own struggle.  To them what is happening in their lives is what is most important.  We need to recognize pain and suffering in other people and be their encourager in their times of need.  I know I have had many times when my circumstances have overtaken me and my friends have been there to lift me back up and set me back on track.  We are to be that for everyone we meet.  

Love is a universal emotion, feeling, word, expression and need.   You won’t meet anyone who doesn’t desire for Love in some way or another.  There is a longing for love, acceptance and validation from every human being in this world.  The level of need for each person is different, and also the way they express the need is different. 

You may see someone who you think has it all together.  Their life looks really good from the outside, but that person, I am sure of it, is fighting an internal battle.  They might be over compensating for the lack of affection they have or had in their life through excelling at other things in life.  They may be using work to mask the pain of loneliness in their lives.   

I understand this person, because I am this person.  I won’t share my true inner feelings with just anyone, so when you see my exterior, or my outside expression to the world, you see the opposite of what I am experiencing internally.  

I can be hard, cold and quick, but I use this as a shield to protect the world from my inner person.  I am actually a shy, very sensitive, loving person, but it is not easy for me to express those things to the people around me.  I will show you that I care for you in ways you might not even notice, unless you pay attention.  I am working on this and with God’s help, I will be able to express my feelings to people that matter to me, without fear of rejection.

Jesus says in John 13:34, a verse that we all know very well.  I give you a new commandment; that you should love one another.  Just as I have loved you, so you to should love one another.  (35) By this shall all (men) know that you are My disciples, if you love one another (if you keep on showing love among yourselves).

These words, when read, seem to be a very easy request that Jesus is making.  We should be able to love each other, just as Jesus has loved us, right?   This shouldn’t be too hard…

 

Yeah, right.  This I believe might be the hardest of them all.  You see, to love someone the way Jesus loves them is to love them flaws and all.  It’s to say to someone, I know we are very different and our outlook on life is different, but I choose to love you anyway.  I choose to love the person inside of you because that is the same person that is inside of me.  I love you because; God loves me, so that means I love you.  Seems easy enough!

Have you ever gotten up late for work, and everything is going wrong.  You are late, so you wake up in a panic, you can’t find something to wear, the dogs have peed on the floor again, you need to feed them and get yourself out the door.  Just as you are walking out the door you realize you have forgotten something and have to rush right back in to find it, and of course it’s not where you thought you put it so you are searching frantically only to find it and wonder how it got there. 

Driving to work you get behind every school bus, you hit every red light and of course every cautious driver.  By this time your ability to love is just about gone.   Then BAM in walks the person whom you avoid everyday but yet, you are to be kind to them and love them.  How easy does it sound now?

Love always gets placed in this gooey, flowers, candy and romantic music column, and many times; it is none of those things.   Love is a choice.  We decide every day, whether our day started out brilliantly or in chaos, if we are going to love people that day.   We put on love just like we put on our socks.  You have to will yourself to love.

Love looks very different to each person as well.  Maybe your ability to walk in love with a person is just giving them a smile and a simple how are you as you walk past them in the hallway.  Maybe it’s remembering their birthday and sending them a Happy Birthday text.  Maybe it’s taking a minute to help someone who is feeling left behind as they transition in life.   Love isn’t always that big moment where you run through the daisy’s and jump into each other’s arms longingly.   It would be great if it was, but just so you know you have to make a series of decisions to get to that part as well. 

 
Love can be brutal.   Love can cause you to cry, scream, throw things, say mean things; love can cause you to become someone you are not.  But again, all of those things are decisions.  

We make the decision to love or not love.  We have the ability to tell our minds how we are going to handle each person we meet.   When you greet someone with kindness, respect and warmth you are showing them Love.  You are giving them a piece of Jesus.   We need to be more aware of this.  We need to be more aware of the feelings we are leaving behind with each person we meet.

You are not going to run into a world filled with people like yourself, you probably wouldn’t like them anyway, but you’re not.  You are going to run into people who are complete opposites of you and who will grate on your last nerve.  You will not like one thing that they do and they might even bring out the worst in you.   Keep in mind that they were brought into your life for a reason.  It’s probably not the reason that you want it to be, but a reason none the less. 

In these moments make a decision to love.  Make the decision to do as Jesus commanded us to do, and love each other as Jesus loves us.  Allow Jesus to be our example, our guide in how to love people.  Jesus made a decision to love you, even though you didn’t deserve it, so make the same decision and love the people around you, because they don’t deserve it either! 

When we begin to all start to love each other because that’s what we are supposed to do, not what we feel like doing, the world will be a very different place.  The love that you are sharing will come right back to you, and those hard decisions will become easier and easier to make.