What About Love? (One Word in Review)

As some of you may remember, my One Word for 2018 has been LOVE.  And what a year it has been!!

I feel as if I have learned so much about love this year... and that I still have so very much more to learn.

I've learned that the greatest commandment is to Love.  Jesus said it Himself:

I believe that every little thing in the Gospels comes down to this - God loves us.  So much more than we can ever even begin to fully understand.  As a response to that kind of Love,  we should love Him.  And as a result we should also love others.  

I've learned that it's not about who loves you, but who (whom?) you love.  We are supposed to love everyone.  Not just the people that love us.  Not just the people who look like us.  Or think like us.  Or live where we live.  Or vote the way we vote.  Or dress the way we think they should dress. Or act the way we think they are supposed to act.   Or look the way we think they should look.

EVERYONE.  Period.

We are told to love others as we want to be treated.  Not as we are treated.  Not as we think they deserve to be treated.

We are even told to love our enemies.  The people who are mean to us.  Who are hateful. Who hurt us and/or others.  (Admittedly, that's a hard pill to swallow.  I'm still working on that one and I confess that I have a very very long way to go.)

I've learned that we can't really love others until we love ourselves.  And we can't really love ourselves until we love God, and realize how much He loves us.  It's only through seeing ourselves as He sees us that we can really love who we are.  Then, as we learn that He loves everyone this way and to see others as He sees them - we can learn to love them as he does.

I've come to believe that love really is the answer.  If everyone truly loved others.  If we were all kind to everyone else.  If we took care of others from a place of love.  If we were generous and thoughtful and loving...  then everyone would feel worthwhile.  No one would feel lonely.  Or meaningless.  Or angry.

I could go on and on.  I believe I could spend year after year in this word alone and never learn everything there is to learn about God's Love for us and how He wants us to love others.  However, I already feel as if I am being pointed to a new word for 2019.  And we'll discuss that one soon.

Until then... Love one another.