What if, "Just being neighborly," meant more than picking up someone's mail for them when they went out of town? What if it meant loving them like they were your favorite? Giving everything you have and everything you are for someone, just because they are a person. And because they are a person, someone worthy of love. Not the "I'll scratch your back so that you scratch mine" kind of manipulation and control that we oftentimes pass off as love. But the gladly giving everything you are and everything you have kind of agape love that the God who IS love gives us. Loving people without expectation. Loving people just because we are so full of love that it overflows out of us. Seeing everybody we come into contact with as neighbors. Friends. Family. Loved ones. Friends are the family we choose, right? And family is forever. So maybe we should heap fiery coals onto people's heads not to hurt them, but to melt their hearts. I'm telling you, its hard to be mean to someone that is constantly nice to you. Its possible. It happens. But its hard. Because it is the GOODNESS of God that leads to repentance (see Romans 2:4). Its not the scariness of God that leads us to repentance. The angry God that relgion tries to use to scare people straight only makes people run FROM God instead of running TO Him. People will only change their minds (which is what it means to repent) when they see something better than what they've already got. We want to believe the grass is greener on the other side, but realistically we just settle for whatever life hands us. We don't even (usually) try to make lemonade out of the lemons we are given. We just take what life offers and say, "That's the way it is." And to me that's tragic. Because there's a way the world says it is... and there's THE Way (Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life) that it really is. And the only difference is that we need the light of the world to shine in order to see things clearly. To see that things don't need to be PUT into Divine Order, but that things are already IN Divine Order. That's what happened on the cross when Jesus remade the world in His image. When the consuming fire that is love consumed everything in its (HIS) path and left nothing but itself (HIMSELF). Let me say that again--there is nothing left but love. Love is all-powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful, but means ALL OF THE POWER. There is no other power but love. And when I said, "we need the light of the world to shine," what I meant was WE need to shine OUR light. WE are the light of the world. And we shine by loving each other. By "being neighborly." By helping each other. Seeing a need and meeting it. That IS the Divine Order. Love, first... last... and always. So when you're trying to decide if you should love someone--you should. If you don't know if you should help someone--you should. And, as always, that doesn't mean you should put (or keep) yourself in a bad situation. Enabling people doesn't help them. Giving in to every want and whim that someone has doesn't help them. But if you see a need and you can meet it... its the neighborly thing to do. Really its the least you can do. Love is maximum effort. You can't do more than love. But helping people... that should be second nature. Because it IS our true nature. The love nature. So just remember, we're all in this together. We need each other.

As my father says (at any given occasion), "You can never be too nice to people." Biblically, "Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification" (Romans 15:2). And this goes with what I was Ranting about in the last series--more than just working no ill... do good. Because love means affection. It isn't a grudging, "I guess I love you because I love everybody. Blah." It is so much more than that. It is treating everybody you come into contact with like a neighbor. Like a friend. Like your favorite. Laying your life down for people. Giving maximum effort. Giving everything you have and everything you are, even though it seems like the more you love the less you are loved. And, friends, sometimes it DOES feel like that. Sometimes it feels like if you give a mouse a cookie he's gonna want a glass of milk. People WILL take advantage of you. If they know you're willing to help, they'll try to get whatever they can get. But that's ok. Give them what you've got. And then don't worry about it when you say no. Know when to say when. Because once you've given it everything you've got... its either enough, or its not. And either way you've done what you could do. But don't make a big deal out of it either. Like the old saying goes, "If someone helps you, never forget it. If you help someone, never remember it." Don't hold things over people's heads. Don't remind them of what you've done for them. If you see a need, and you can meet it, meet it. Don't wait to "feel led." Just give what you've got. Be who you are. And if they ask why, well, you can tell them you're just "being neighborly." Don't make a big deal out of it. Especially if it IS a big deal. Because if someone really NEEDS help... they know its a big deal. So just be cool about it. Be nice... but don't expect anything. Go the extra mile, but don't do it so that someone will thank you. I teach my kid to say thank you when people do stuff for him, give stuff to him. Because I think that's right. Proper. Polite. But not everybody feels that way. And sometimes I think people are embarressed when they get help--because they are embarrassed to NEED help--and that makes things awkward. Don't do it for the applause, is what I think I'm trying to say. Do it because its in your heart to do it. Do it because someone did it for you. Or do it because nobody did it for you. Do it because you can do it. And, as always, I'm not talking about enabling. I'm not talking about doing more than you can (or should) do. Use a little wisdom. Maybe even a little common sense. Sometimes people want things they don't need. But sometimes people DO need. "And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise" (Luke 3:10-11). Live out of your abundance. Should you go into debt to give someone money? Probably not. But if you've got two coats and someone is cold... give what you've got. Share the wealth. Let people know that you're there for them. That if they need help, there's somewhere they can go. Let people know that they're NOT all alone. We're all in this together. Family. Friends. Neighbors.

Would you be my, could you be my, won't you be my neighbor? Even in the not so distant future, that word "neighbor" meant something. I think we've possibly lost a lot of it these days... I think it went the way of family dinners. People don't seem to want to know their neighbors anymore. Much less treat them like family. But the Bible uses the phrase, the idea, of loving your neighbor, alot. Even so far that we've made it the Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated... love your neighbor as yourself. And I think this is note worthy: The word "neighbour" in Luke 10:27 is number 4139 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "Near; close; fellow (man)." So I can see that as the person that lives next door. But I can see that even more as anybody that comes into your path. Your fellow man. Love anybody (and everybody) near you. Don't discriminate. Don't try to figure out if someone is worthy of love. That's too hard. Simplify it. Everybody is worthy of love. As one of my favorite movies says, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." It doesn't matter who they are, or what they've done, or what they're going to do. You can love them. And that doesn't mean enable. That doesn't mean give them everything they want. I've found that getting what you want can be the worst thing in the world. Because sometimes, when you actually get what you (think you) want... you find out that you don't want it. But if see someone in NEED, that's a horse of a different color. If you see someone who NEEDS help, and you can help them, I think you should do it. And, like I've said before, don't worry about feeling "lead." Those who are lead by the Spirit are called--or identified as--the Son(s) of God. And the Spirit is love. So what else could it possibly lead you to do but love? I'm a pretty hard guy to bother. But it drives me crazy when "Christians" refuse to love people because they don't agree with what that person is doing. You don't have to agree with it. You don't have to understand it--shocker, I know. You can still love people. You can always love people. Because God always loves you. In your worst moments He was still there, loving you. He swore He would never leave you nor forsake you. God is not your neighbor, He lives directly inside you! It is His heart beating with love in your chest. That's why we CAN love... because we ARE loved. Because we are LOVE. And if the God who is love loves you even when you're at your worst, you can love people even when they're doing something you wouldn't do. And, again, I'm not saying you should enable them. Sometimes saying no to someone is the best way to love them. The best way to help them. But you don't have to cross to the other side of the street and avoid them, either. Not when they truly need help and you can meet that need. I've long said the hardest people to love are the people that need love the most. Because they aren't getting any. So if you know it, throw it. If you've got it, give it away. Share it. We destroy our enemies by making them our friends, right? Kill 'em with kindness? Heap fiery coals on their heads in order to melt their hearts? We're all in this together. We're all neighbors. And we CAN all be friends. Because (and I might pick up on this tomorrow) its really hard to love someone without also liking them. Even if you start out NOT liking them. Love softens our hearts towards each other. Love builds bridges. It is the bond that keeps us together!

I'm stuck on this idea of treating everybody like they're your favorite. Showing love to them, in other words. So I want to spend a few days looking at the idea of our neighbor. And to do that I need to lay a foundation of a little bit of Scripture. Ready? Ok. "And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and wtih all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?" (Luke 10:25-29). And first things first, this lawyer was trying to trick and trap Jesus. So that's not great right off the bat. But how many people have we encountered that try to use the Bible for justification of... well, just about everything and anything, really. Because you can twist the Bible around to make it say just about anything and everything. But even though he wasn't coming at it from a good place, Jesus was doing His best to get him to a good place. He makes us lie down in green pastures, right? Sometimes whether we want to or not. (Whether we KNOW we want to or not...) So look at the subtle difference between what the guy asked, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" and what Jesus answered, "This do, and thou shalt live." The guy was talking about the afterlife. Jesus was talking about experiencing a life of love right here and now. Because that's what it comes down to--love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. Receive and release His love. Experience the gift you've been given by sharing it. But even with that simple of an answer, the guy--a lawyer, always looking for loopholes--goes so far as to say, "Ok. Love my neighbor. But who is my neighbor? I'm only trying to just barely do the least I can do. I'm not trying to love every and any body." Which, again, is not a good place to start from. Because love is for everybody. God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son. But Jesus doesn't rebuke the guy. He's still trying to get His mesage across. So He tells the story about the Good Samaritan. You know, how some poor slob gets mugged and all the religious guys cross the street rather than getting close enough to help him. All except the Samaritan. And there's a lot of types and shadows about Jesus being the Samaritan and what He did for us on the cross, but that's not my focus right now. My focus is on Luke 10:36-37, "Which now of these three, thinkest thou was neighbour unto him that feel among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said, Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." A Samaritan. A perfect stranger. Someone who say someone in need, and met that need. Perfect stranger... perfect neighbor. Because, believe it or not, we're all in this together. Doesn't matter who you come into contact with--they are your neighbor. If you want to live you have to love. And love doesn't play favorites. Love just gives what it (HE) has. To whoever needs it. So I say unto you, Go, and do likewise!

I have long thought that its important to have someone in your life that you are absolutely crazy about. And someone that is absolutely crazy about you. And in my case, for the last almost seven years, that has been the same person. My mini-me. My son. Logan. I always tell people, one of my favorite things about my kid is that while HE will try as hard as he can to get one over on his old man... at the exact same time he won't let ANYBODY else get one over on me. He protects me all the way. And that's what I do for him too. Its a bond that cannot be broken. A father's love given to (and returned by) his son. But I said all that to say this: I'm coming to believe that we should act that way towards everybody. I once heard a preacher preach about how everyone is equally important. And that was a hard message for me to agree with. Because I've always played favorites. Always had a VIP club, if I can say it that way. MY people. And if anyone was foolish enough to mess with my people... well... that mistake didn't often happen twice. So having this view of... equality, I guess you could call it... it has taken me a while to come around to it. But while my kid comes first--sorry, folks, always has and always will--I AM getting a deeper understanding of love. Of treating everybody like they're my favorite. Going the extra mile no matter who it is or what they need. And I say NEED because there's a big difference oftentimes between what you want and what you need. What is actually good for you, and what you want in the moment. I don't think catering to wants and whims is very helpful. I think it hurts more than it helps. But if you see a need... and you can meet it... you should meet it. Don't worry about this religious idea of "feeling led." God is love. He wants you to love people. That's why He created you--so He could love you and you could love Him back by loving people. The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth--will always lead us to love people. And those who are lead by the Spirit are called (or identified as) the Son(s) of God. Jesus said people would know His disciples by the love they had one for another. And, to be perfectly honest with you, I'd rather people say, "Tom's really nice," rather than, "Tom's a good Christian." Because even when you put that word "good" on it, it seems like "Christian" has an almost negative connotation. People associate Christians with being judgmental, hypocritical, and worse. So if you're going to label me, I'd prefer you just let my actions speak for themselves. Because my actions flow from what I believe. And I believe in love. I believe love works no ill to His neighbor. So don't do something that is going to hurt someone else. Paul went so far as to talk about not eating certain things if it would cause a brother to stumble. And, taking it even a step further... more than just not doing ill... do good. Treat people like they're your favorite. Lay your life down for them. Give them everything you've got and everything you are. And don't worry about what comes next. Don't worry about what came before. Just live. Just live. Live by loving. Love by living. Work no ill. Do good!

Perfect love fulfills the Law. Because everything--including the Law--is about love. Nothing was created except by, and through, and because of love. The God who IS love wanted to express Himself. So He created you and me. So that He could love us. So that He could love THROUGH us. In us. As us. And love works no ill to His neighbor. Love doesn't look to get one over on people. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. For God so loved the world He GAVE His only begotten Son. Jesus GAVE His life for us, and to us. Because He wanted us to have it. Because He wanted us to be able to experience His everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life of Love as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. So when we look at each other, we need to stop seeing what we can get, and we need to start seeing what we can give. Seeing a need and meeting it--living out of our abundance--is the most simple and broken down way I can put it. Just see a need and meet that need. Don't work ill. Do good. Overcome evil with good. Don't fight "fire with fire." Heap flaming coals (of love) on people's heads and watch their hearts melt. Or maybe not. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how you are received. If someone isn't picking up what you're laying down, just shrug your shoulders and move on. I know I'm not for everybody. And that's ok. I just give what I've got no matter what. Love is gladly spending everything you have and everything you are even though it feels like the most you love the less you are loved. And guess what: People WILL take advantage of you. If someone knows you'll do something for them, chances are they won't hesitate to ask. Give a mouse a cookie, right? But that's ok. Spend it all. Give it all. Give it YOUR all. And then, once you've given something (or someone) everything you've got... its either enough, or its not. And either way you've done what you can do. Understand that you can't reach everybody. And be ok with that. Touch the people you can touch. Because some of the people I can't reach... only you can. We're all in this together. So just do your part. Take care of what you can take care of. And along the way try your level best to do no ill. No help and not hurt. And something doing things for people IS hurting, and not helping. Be wise. Don't enable. Know when to say when. And don't beat yourself up when you can't fix every problem you encounter. Your job isn't to fix every problem. Your job is to love everybody. Sometimes that has to happen from a distance. It just does. But that doesn't mean you wouldn't help... if it would actually help. Sometimes less is more. And as long as you're not making things worse--for them OR yourself--that's ok. I think oftentimes we make things worse by trying too hard. By jumping in when we should stand back. Love doesn't mean going crazy and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Love means shining your light so that things can be revealed in Divine Order. If you're trying to make things go the way YOU think they should... that's not love. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. The Law tried to put people in a religious box. But where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Freedom. Freedom to live. Freedom to love!

Let's talk about the Law a little bit. I know, its not my favorite subject either. But our memory verse for this Rant series, Romans 13:10, says, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." And I don't want to ignore that last part. I want to say a few things and hopefully try to get us out of some religious bondage. And the first thing I want to say is: Unless you're Jewish... the Law was never given to you in the first place. And it was never given in order to be kept as a ticket into heaven. Look at Galatians 3:24-25, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." The Law was given as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. To show us that we couldn't obey the Law no matter how hard we tried... to show us that we needed a Savior. Because the Law demands perfection without being able to produce perfection. Look at Colossians 2:14, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." Not only did the Law demand perfection without being able to produce it, but the Law could only point out what was "wrong" with us. It was contrary to us. Against us. So Jesus got it out of the way. Nailed it to the cross. Gave us a New Commandment--to love one another as He loves us. And watch this: in reality the Law only "works" for "good" people anyway. As my father always says, "Locks on doors only keep honest people out." And honest people don't need an exterior law imposed on them anyway. Because they have something inside. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). And, "Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression" (Romans 4:15). The Law was given to lawbreakers, if I can say it that way. But when you know and believe the love of God--and receive and release that love--when you obey the New Commandment... then you don't need a list of does and don'ts. Because when you know that you are loved, you love. Hurting people hurt people, but loved people love people. And love works no ill to His neighbor. When you're trying to get something, chances are you'll break every rule in the book to get it. Because you don't think you have it, and you desperately want it. But when you know what you've got--when you know who you are--you don't need to break any rules. You don't NEED any rules. Because everything you do comes from your heart. You don't do things because someone tells you to, or tells you not to. You do things because they are in your heart to do them. Remember when Jesus told us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind? And to love our neighbors as ourselves? He said, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40). Love fulfills the Law. Because when you love... well... as the Beatles put it, "All you need is love." You don't need a list of rights and wrongs. Because you have no interest in anything except giving people what you've got. Giving people what they need. Letting the love inside come out!

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour. That's from Romans 13:10. And I think its interesting that Paul wrote love as if He was a person. Because, of course, He IS a person. God is love. Jesus is God in the flesh, love in a body. God in your flesh. Love in your body. Jesus is your true identity. Love... is you. And when we come at things from this perspective, from the truth that we not only love, but we ARE love, then we can see ourselves as we truly are. Who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us. Who we are in love, which is who love is in us. What I'm trying to say, in a roundabout way, is that if love works no ill to his neighbor... that's another way of seeing WE ought to work no ill to OUR neighbors. And not only ought to, but--watch this closely--don't have to. We don't have to retaliate. We can turn the other cheek. We don't have knock people down to make ourselves look tough. We don't have to climb over people to make ourselves look big. Remember meekness? Meekness is not weakness. It is strength under control. Doing what is necessary, but doing it quietly, without drawing attention to yourself. And that's kind of the "going the extra mile" portion of this program. No only working no ill... but actively working goodness. And I know "good" and "evil" have almost become four letter words in the religious community. But I also know Romans 12:21 says, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." You can't fight fire with fire. You have to understand that God is the consuming fire and that we heap burning coals on people's heads, not to burn them to death, but to melt their hearts. If your motivation is punishment, I think you may have missed the point. Its supposed to be about correction and restoration. I've noticed that when you give someone a chance they often rise to the occasion. But if you squash someone--punish them, beat them into the ground, kick them when they're down--they harbor bitterness and resentment. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Train up a child in the way he SHOULD go. Encourage people. Edify people. Build them up instead of tearing them down. And, listen, I know correction doesn't always feel good. But it leads to good. All things work together for good, right? They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Love has a neighbor, because love is you... and you have a neighbor. So don't try to get one over on anybody. Don't try to "get" anything at all. It seems to baffle people when I tell them I don't want anything from them. Especially when they're trying to offer to scratch my back in order to get me to scratch theirs. And I'm like, "Listen, if you need something that I can give... its yours. I don't want anything from you." Blows people's minds. Doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. But that's love. Seeing a need and meeting it. Working no ill. Overcoming evil with good. Going the extra mile. Not trying to do something in order to be something. But doing charity (love in action) because of what we be. We are loved. Which means we can love. Because we are love. See the people in your life as your neighbors, your friends... your loved ones. And treat them accordingly!

I always seem to come back to the nature of love. We have the love nature. Our new (true) nature that was revealed to us when Jesus laid His life down on the cross. When Jesus gave His life for us and to us. Love is not just what God does, love is who God is. And as He is, so are we in this world. So love is not just what we are capable of. Love is who we are. Love wrapped up in a human body. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in your flesh. Love in your body. The Word (which is Jesus, which is love) made flesh. We have the love nature. We have the love of God inside us. The trick is getting what's inside to come out. And we do that by knowing and believing that it (HE) is in there. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Letting God love the hell out of us so we can love Him back by loving each other. These are things that I know. So I preach and teach and Rant on them constantly. But what I want to explore for the next few days is... since we have the love nature, we ought to understand the nature of love. And there's no better place in Scripture to see the nature of love than "The Love Chapter." 1 Corinthians 13. A literal list of things that love (or charity, love in action) is all about. A personality profile of Jesus. A look into the mirror of who we really are. Because when you read all that stuff you can't come at from the idea of, "These are the things I need to do." You don't do in order to be. You do BECAUSE you be. What you do flows from what you believe. When you start to see yourself in those things--I AM patient, instead of "I need to be patient"--that's when you can stop trying to be someone you're not. And I've heard it preached many times that when you ask God to give you patience, He gives you opportunities to be patient. Kind of a "learn by doing" scenario. So be careful what you wish for, right? But the verse that struck me when I was getting ready to start this new Rant series is Romans 13:10, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." And I want to get into the "fulfilling of the law" part... but not today. Today I can't get past the phrase, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour." Think about that. And think about this: What if we treated everybody--EVERYBODY--the way we treat the people in our lives that we love the most? Think how different things would be? My son, Logan, in his infinite six year old wisdom, drops this logic on me almost every day, "You'll do it for me, right dad? Because you love me?" And I can't argue with that logic. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him. Yes, I expect him to try his best first. But that's because I'm trying to prepare him for life. If he needs help, he knows without a shadow of a doubt that his daddy's got his back. He knows that as long as I have a spot, he has a spot. He knows what's mine is his. He knows he's special to me. But, again, what if we treated everybody like that? What if we went out of our way to work no ill to anybody. And not only no ill, but what if we went out of our way to work GOOD towards everybody? What if, instead of picking and choosing who to give maximum effort to... we lived a life of service to everybody? Radical? Maybe. But love is all incompasing. Love is all for one and one for all. You might not like everybody, but when you truly understand the nature of love you will love everybody!

The best way--perhaps the only way--to truly take care of yourself is to let your heavenly Father take care of you. And you let God take care of you, by taking care of others. By receiving and releasing the gift of God that He gave to you 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. By letting God love the hell out of you, and then loving the people that you come into contact with, with that same love. Receiving and releasing. Receiving AND releasing. We receive self care by releasing care. We receive forgiveness by forgiving others. We receive love by loving others. I know it sounds backwards and upside down. But that's how the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of LOVE) operates. Its not supposed to make sense to the carnal mind. If we could "figure it out" we wouldn't need faith. And the best part about faith is that faith is not a blind leap--into the dark OR the light. Faith is trusting God because He has proven Himself trustworthy. Faith isn't hope. Both of those are great things, but they aren't the same thing. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But when you see--because seeing is believing--God's love in action (charity) that's when you can fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. That's when you can let what's inside come out; when you know and believe that its in there. And, again, that's how you take care of yourself. You let God take care of you. You let Him love you, and then you simply love others with that love. That selfless, sacrificial, agape, God love. That love where you give everything you have and everything you are. But here's the key: Once you've given your all its either enough... or its not. And either way, you've done what you can do. Don't try to do things that you weren't created to do. Don't try to be someone you're not. Walk worthy of YOUR calling. Stay in your lane. Be who you are. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. Doing that thing that makes you... you. But doing it in love. Doing it for love. By love. Because of love. For me, its writing. But it wasn't until I started writing about Jesus--writing about love--that I was anymore more than just banging cymbols. Making noise. It wasn't until I started doing what I do from a love perspective that what I was doing started to matter. And I gotta tell you, just being transparent, sometimes it feels like what I'm doing DOESN'T matter. Sometimes it feels like I'm NOT making a difference. But you know what I do in those times? I strengthen myself in the Lord. When you don't know what to do... do what you know. Love. This little light of mine, right? I'm gonna let it shine. Because even the smallest amount of light makes a difference when its dark out. You don't always know the impact you have on people. But I'm telling you... you matter. You make a difference. So don't stop being who you are. Don't be afraid to reach out. Even if your hand gets slapped away. Its worth it. You might plant a seed, and someone else might water it. You might never see the fruit that comes from it. But if you're spreading love, you're making the world a better place. Period. Taking care of people. Seeing a need and meeting it. And that's a life worth living. That's how you take care of yourself--by not worrying about yourself. By taking care of others. By loving people...!