LOVE U BETTER: 2 Questions To Change How Love Others Better
We are called to love others. Whether it be our favorite person in the universe or the last being we’d want to share this Earth with, we are to love them as God has.
But Jo, you don’t understand, there are some people which are not my people.
Girl, I hear you.
But the fact is, when God created us in our mother’s womb, He took His time detailing every fiber of our being to be this perfect creation to roam Earth. (Psalms 139:13). We were made in His image, in His likeness (Genesis 1:26).
Yes, people are frustrating. It’s true, we are imperfect beings because of sin, struggling with certain spirits - pride, envy, jealousy, etc - which are often difficult to look past. However, these struggles don’t define the identity God has placed in us, but rather, the spiritual battles we each face manifesting itself in the physical.
To love better, just as God has loved us, we must choose to see them for who they truly are in Christ. We must constantly ask God two questions:
God, how do you see this person?
Notice it’s how God sees this person, not ourselves. We often get swayed by the scars of our interactions and the lens of our perception. Sometimes it gets to a point where our hearts are completely hardened we’re convinced this person is who we say they are. They are who God has created them to be, so ask Him to open your eyes to see the value and the beauty of this person when s/he was created. Ask God to shed any negative feelings and see the good of His Creation.
How can I serve this person?
When a person crosses you poorly, reacting is the easiest thing. Someone say something mean? One up them with another insult. They did something dirty? Slash their tires.
It’s easy to gauge how others have treated you as the basis of how you treat others. But God calls us to love as He’s loved us. This means we are to come from a place of unconditional love. One which is patient, constantly choosing us, constantly praying for us.
In the same way, we are to love others from a place of unconditional love. Patient, constantly choosing, constantly praying.***
(***I do want to note that this doesn’t mean to stay in relationships which are potentially harmful or toxic. It does not condone violence, accept abuse in any way shape or form. Loving unconditionally is a matter of response and attitude to that person after undergoing such things.
If you are in a position of abuse or domestic violence, please click here for resources and professional help.)
I kid you not when I say this can be the most difficult commandment God’s asked of us, but there is a reason He has placed it right up there with loving Him.
“ This is how they’ll know you are my disciples, if you love one another”
John 13:35
A world which we can root ourselves in God’s love and love others in the outpour of it is one which God intended. As we strive to love God deeper, let’s also strive to love one another deeper.
xx,
Jo