Do Unto part 5
We all want to be loved. That's the basic human desire. The desire of our hearts. So treating others how we want to be treated is just loving people. That's as simple as I can make it. It's not about, "I like cookies so I'm going to give people cookies." Because not everybody likes cookies. And it's not about giving in order to get something. "I want someone to give me cookies so I'll do what I need to in order to make that happen." No. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. Just giving what you've got. But doing it in a way that benefits the people you are giving it to. Using a little bit of wisdom. Making the connection that allows you to know what they really need. Not necessarily what you want them to have--or what YOU want to have--but what THEY need. That's true love. Seeing a need and meeting it. Not forcing yourself on anybody. But making what they need available to them. Offering what you have, but being ok with it if they aren't picking up what you're laying down. Being ok with it even if it seems like the more you love, the less you are loved. Because sometimes that happens. Sometimes you reach a hand out and it gets slapped down. That doesn't mean you should put your hand in your pocket and never reach out ever again. The tricky part about loving people is balancing wanting the best for people with the truth that we can only do so much for people. You can't make someone do the right thing. You can't make someone "change." Only the Holy Spirit can do that. And only by revealing the change that has already taken place. The Holy Spirit testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. He tells us who we really are by telling us who HE really is. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That's the key to this whole thing: Christ in you the hope of (revealed) glory. The glory of God--which is His love--in us, coming out of us. If we want people to treat us with love... we have to operate in love. Not because loving people will make them love us, but because loving people is the only way to experience this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that is the gift of God! And, by the way, I've found that the more you love people, the better they WILL treat you. Love is hard to stand against. I think in some measure love seems too good to be true. Because we think we don't deserve it. But if someone loves you... and loves you... and loves you... I think that kind of love will melt people's hearts. So while it is not the goal--we don't do unto others SO THAT they will do unto us--it might have the somewhat unexpected result of building and improving relationships with people. A fringe benefit. But whether or not, it's not about us. It's about giving what we've got. Treating people with kindness because we would like to be treated with kindness. Again, not so that we will be treated that way. We're not trying to control or manipulate people. But simply because God loves us. He loves us, so we ought to love each other. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Letting what's inside come out by filling ourselves to overflowing with it!