Love

While watching Biggest Loser last night and hearing the story of one of the contestants, I was once again reminded that you just never know what people go through and what brings them to the place they are in. They could be the rudest, meanest, fattest, skinniest, happiest, well put together, falling apart person you have ever met and you have no idea what they have walked through and why they are those things on the outside.

My job often reminds me of this too. Patients come in and can sometimes be very rude or short tempered and when they check out or maybe by the next visit they have transformed into seemingly an entirely different person because they feel better.

We just don't always know what road people have walked or are walking. What pain they may carry around or regrets, guilt, shame, doubts, etc.

The specific story shared on Biggest Loser was of a mother whose son had gotten outside and drown in a pool while she was sleeping. What a devastating story and oh the guilt she is carrying around with her. I cannot even imagine and when I thought about that happening to us I just about lost it all together.

It reminded me of the quote we so often see and I actually posted on social media..."Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." ~original author unknown

Think about that. We have no idea what people are facing everyday. We have no idea the heartbreaks they are or have experienced. We have no idea. 

If we keep that in mind my hope is that we will love freely, even those who are unpleasant or not very easy to love.

After all..."But the greatest of these is love." 1Corinthians 13:13b

I am a firm believer that, as it says earlier in 1Corinthians chapter 13, in verse 8 "Love never fails." I believe this because I have seen in with my own eyes and in my own walk and in how God has called me to walk.

Love never fails. Love is what transformed my life. God's redeeming love and the love of fellow Christians (one in particular) who walked with me through some of my toughest days of healing and transforming (it did not happen over night and it was not a pleasant process, I was not a pleasant person).

I would not be the person that I am today had they given up and decided that I was too difficult, too unpleasant or too mean to love. Love never fails.

Christ's unfailing, unconditional love continues to be my rock to this day. He is always always there to love me especially when I am at my worst or when I am unlovable. 

What I have typically found is that those who are unpleasant are usually hurting in some way or have a need of some kind. They need love the most.

So I leave you with this...the Love Check

Read 1Corinthians 13:4-8 and all the places it says love, substitute in your name and see how well you stack up. Don't worry, noone really stacks up but it is a good way to check and see where you are in loving like Jesus.

It is a reality check for me EVERYTIME I do it!

Happy LOVE month! Let's make it a LOVE year!