Unloveable part 4
I think you have to have some balance. If you spend all of your time with negative people, it can drain you. But I'm fully convinced you shouldn't kick someone out of your life just because they can be a little hard to handle. The people who are the hardest to love are the people who need love the most. And if you--who know and believe that you are loved--don't give it to them... who will? How will rejecting someone get them to change? Don't we understand that it is the GOODNESS of God that leads to repentance? Don't we get it that the best way--the more excellent way--is to show someone something better than they've got? What I'm trying to say is, love them anyway. But you don't have to let people steamroll you either. Meekness is not weakness. It's strength under control. And yesterday we saw where we find that strength; in the Lord. And guess what: The best way to FEEL love is to love others. When Jesus was hungry and He sent the disciples to get Him some food He met a girl. And He ministered to her. And then the disciples came back and found Him no longer hungry. Jesus said, "...I have a kind of food you know nothing about" (John 4:32 NLT). "Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work" (John 4:34 NLT). See... when Jesus released it He received it. When He shared it, He made it real. He made it manifest. When we love the people that seem unloveable, not only do we change THEIR lives, but we change our own. Because we create an atmosphere of mercy, and grace, and forgiveness, and understanding, and acceptance... and love. We literally bring heaven to earth. And then everybody gets to experience it. But, like I said, balance. There are some people in my life that I just really can't spend that much time with. But those same people, if they asked for my help... I'd give it to them. I don't cut them out or leave them high and dry. I love them anyway. Even if it's in small doses. And I make sure I'm the thermostat and not the thermometer. I'm not TAKING the temperature, I'm SETTING the temperature. I'm not letting negativity pull me down, I'm letting love lift everyone up! Not falling in love, but rising in love! Because the truth of the matter is, we're all "unloveable" at times. We don't all get along and we don't always get along. But instead of building walls, we can still build bridges. One step at a time. One baby step at a time! You don't have to spend every second of every day with a difficult person. But if you give them a couple seconds a day you might just help them to be a little less difficult. They might just see something better than what they've got. And they might just repent--or change their mind--about a few things. They might just receive the love you're releasing, and then they might just release it themselves. Because it's too good and it's too big to keep inside. If we know and believe it's in there... it comes out!