Love one another...

I know you all have people in your life who drive you NUTS! You know, that person who wants you to watch her kids ever other day or that neighbor who is emotionally needy. That person who is just sooo-harrrdd-toooo-LLOOOVVEEE!

I struggle with this. Really, I do. Certain people tend to annoy me and I find myself distancing myself from them. Honestly, they really haven't done anything wrong. It's not like they harmed me in any way or said anything that hurt my feelings. They just plain old annoy me. (I case you are wondering, I am NOT speaking about anyone in particular ...just describing a type of person).

You know what is even worse...when God convicts us of this.

I don't know about you, but I tend to "find" a verse in the Bible which "supports" my decision to "shun" certain people. You know..like, "guard you heart and soul for it is the wellspring of life" .
Or make an excuse, such as, my kids need me more than YOU need me.

But is this true?

Today I read this devotional and it made me think...

Least but not last, as Christians we are told to love our neighbors (Matthew 22:39). This is a commandment that many of us (including myself) fail time and time again. We as Christians try not to boast about the works we do, but at the same time we hold a prideful feeling, or a feeling of how good we are to do these things. And yet, how often do we turn people away who need help? How often do we let people struggle simply because we do not have the "time," the "energy," or the "resources" to help them.

Perhaps the greatest danger with being foolish is that we only end up tricking ourselves. We try to convince ourselves of how good we are, or that we have done enough already. We try to tell ourselves that we are right in our thinking and that contradicting verses are simply a translational error, or interpreted incorrectly.

BAM...that is the sound of my face being smacked by God (in a good way of course).

Sometimes, not matter how much I want to love others, I still fail. Being a mom takes so much out of me some days and there just isn't much left over.

Then I realized that I was right. YES, I, KARA, do NOT have the energy to help or love the unlovable. But guess who does....you got it..GOD! And God lives in me and the Holy Spirit CAN love others! He CAN give me patience. He CAN show me love.

So today my prayer is that God would place people in my life that challenge me to show his love. AND that the Holy Spirit would help me to love them. Because we all know that we are CALLED to love our neighbors.

*on a side note, I believe there are situations where one needs to take a passive role in loving someone. For example, in an abusive relationship or in a relationship which doesn't glorify God. In those situations, I recommend you pray for that person who has harmed you and know that God loves them too!