Love: something that is engraved into our human DNA, that fuels our desire to keep going and can bring hope to the lost and peace to destruction.
Many people assume that love correlates mostly with your "one true love." That one special person that will be our best friend for the rest of our lives. The beautiful, perfect wedding. The 2.5 kids, the white picket fence. Love is so much more than just the person we end up marrying.
We are called to love. Not only are we called to love the people that are nice to us, but love everyone. Lately, I have been thinking about the people I love. It's so easy for me to love the people that show me kindness, who pick me up when I'm down, and who encourage me through every trial I go through. I realized that it's so much harder for me to love those who challenge me (in a bad way), whose personalities clash with mine, who don't necessarily speak the best things about me. I mean, why would I want to love the people who make me feel bad about myself? I should just love the people that I like, right? Wrong.
With all the tragedy that's happening in our world, I see a lot of people pointing fingers and discriminating against those who aren't like them. It's hard living in a society where diversity isn't always celebrated. Growing up, my parents and church always taught me to love everyone no matter their background, their race, their religion or gender. Today, I still try my best to love everyone around me.
I don't need to agree with your choices or lifestyle to love you. I can still love you even if I disagree. I'm going to love you whether you're a boy or girl, whether you love boys or you love girls. I'm going to love you if you're Muslim or Black or any other race than myself. I'm going to love you whether you worship Buddha or Allah or the stars. I'm going to love you if you believe in gun control or you own an entire closet full. I'm going to love you whether you vote for Hillary or Trump or if you decide not to vote. I'm going to love you if you're a victim of rape or sex trafficking or if you're the one committing those crimes. I'm going to love you if you were put into a coma by a cop or if you're the cop that put someone into a coma. I'm going to love you whether you killed a celebrity outside of their concert or if you were the family member of the killer. I'm going to love you if you dropped your kid into a gorilla exhibit at the zoo or if you shot and killed a gorilla. I'm called to love with no boundaries.
No human deserves to be treated like an animal, bullied or used and abused. We are ALL humans. Whether we decided to make choices that have caused more harm than healing or if we are victims of crimes others commit against us. I know it's hard to love those that we see as wrong, but hating someone never solved anything. Violence never solved anything. War, money and arguing never solved anything. Lying, hiding evidence and cheating the system caused more trouble than anything else. Loving someone and being loved by another is the greatest thing we can do to get through the hurt our world is suffering from right now. We are called to love. Especially loving the ones who are hard to love and the ones we really don't agree with.
