Love Thy Neighbor

There is one thing I figured out this past year that has really been enlightening.

I've always had difficulty with the whole "Love Thy Neighbor" thing.  I think God took my sense of smell away because I had not been able to really love thy neighbor as long as said neighbor had stinky breath, or bad BO...  It used to really piss me off when people used my phone when they had bad breath because the phone would stink afterwards...  so I would clean it thoroughly until all traces of the offensive aroma were gone. 

I also had difficulty "loving thy neighbor" if said neighbor was either: dorky, boring, loud, obnoxious, gawdy, boisterous, braggy, spitty, snobbish, quiet, too pale, trashy, had bad teeth, bad skin or many other things I had no patience for.  Regardless, I wondered why God would have said to "love thy neighbor" when clearly, and no matter how much I tried, there was no love in my heart for these creatures. 

During a particularly care-free period of my life, however, I did manage to love those neighbors whom I felt "love" for.  Or fell in love with.  On an almost-weekly basis, to be exact.  I wondered if I would ever be able to stop loving so much and just find the one true love of my life, and live without the worry of meeting another lovable neighbor that needed my loving attention.

But then I found:  LOVE DOES NOT START FROM THE INSIDE (our heart, which drives us to do nice things for others), IT STARTS FROM THE OUTSIDE.

I have found that whether I like someone or not, when I do something loving for that person (not as I did during my care-free period, but in the true sense of the word) then the love comes.  It's like a phenomenon, but it really works.  Doing a loving act of kindness for another, but doing it for God's love, solely because He commanded it can be an amazing thing to experience.

Thinking back to Karen, and how I used to try to help her before she died.  She used to thank me and tell me "you don't have to do that for me", so I would tell her it wasn't for her, I was doing it for God.  The love between her and I grew in leaps and bounds in a very short period of time.  Saying "I love you" to one another became a daily necessity, and although I miss her now that she's gone, I am the better for having had that experience of loving someone for God.

Asa side note, I also did find my one true love.  And it is nothing like I ever experienced.  But it is rooted so deep inside of me, I am convinced God planted it. 

Back on,
G