"'A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.'"
-John 13:34-35
In my opinion this is by far one of the most challenging verses in the entire Bible. Considering I've already talked about the topic of love before I'm sure that's kind of an obvious statement. Jesus's words here in John run through my head every second of every day as I get stuck in situations with people I don't exactly love and am faced with the choice of being a light of conforming to society. The people around me know that I am a Christian, or at least I hope they do, and I am very aware that the way I conduct myself has the ability to draw many of them in or turn many of them away from the faith that I find so amazing.
Being faced with this challenge it not always easy. Sarcasm is one of my favorite defense mechanisms and I use it ALL the time, way too often probably. I came to the realization lately that the sarcasm I use all the time IS NOT love, even though it is spoken mostly in jest tears people down. And tearing people down is not love and is the exact opposite of the commandment Jesus gave us. MY biggest challenge is to follow this commandment all the time. Love is such a hard thing to give, especially to people who I don't feel deserve it, people I don't want to love, but no matter, I don't really have a choice. Not living out this commandment is a sin, and it's a sin that I no longer want to commit.
Who's ready to take on this challenge with me?
xoxo,
Abby
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