Love them anyways

To love is so simple yet it is usually perceived as a laborious task.

It is laborious when it stems from a lack of love for oneself.

It is laborious when we constantly focus on the flaws of others.

It is laborious when we don’t understand what it means to be loved.

               We only love because He, GOD, first loved us. (1 John 4:19). Understanding the depths of His unconditional love is essential in learning how to love.

I went on the Freedom in Christ Course earlier this year, and it was literally liberating. On reflection learning to love others regardless was one of the pivotal points in the course for me. I thought I already knew what it meant to be ‘my brothers keeper’ or ‘to love my neighbour’, but the ‘Paradoxical Commandments’ below cleared my false understanding and established a foundation on which my new understanding of what it means to be the ‘neighbour’ Christ wants me to be has developed.

  1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centred.
    Love them anyway.
  2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
    Do good anyway.
  3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
    Succeed anyway.
  4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
    Do good anyway.
  5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
    Be honest and frank anyway.
  6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
  7. People favour underdogs but follow only top dogs.
    Fight for the underdog anyway.
  8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
    Build anyway.
  9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
    Help people anyway.
  10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
    Give the world the best you have anyway.

         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

When we love others, we are displaying our love for God. So keep loving because God loves it!!!

God bless you! 

Source: Paradoxical Commandments from Mother Theresa, and Dr. Kent M. Keith

 

 

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