Love People

You know what I've been thinking a lot about lately?
Love.

And how you really have to be brave to
love.

Before you think I'm getting all romantic on you, let me clarify that I am not talking about romantic love, although that is definitely included.

I'm talking about all love.

You have to be brave to love.
You have to be bold to love.
You have to be really, really
strong
to love.

Hate is a cowardly feeling.  It's so much easier to hate someone than it is to love someone.

If you hate someone, you allow yourself to become
blind
and numb
and deaf
to their humanity.

That's easy for us.

It's so much harder to love because when you love people it means you have to
forgive
and apologize
and accept
their humanity.

We've all heard probably the most well-known verse of the bible, John 3:16, "For God SO LOVED the world..." but we probably never really think about the depth of those words, do we?

Think about them now.  Say them in your head.  Say them out loud.

God SO LOVED the world.
SO LOVED the world.
(Am I starting to sound like a broken record yet?)
He so LOVED the world - this world, your world, our world.

God surpassed all HATE with one act of LOVE.  He didn't come into this world wielding swords and leading armies.

He came in love, in the form of a child.
He made no show of His power.  He healed the blind, the dead, the lame, the lepers, freely and with no trace of pomp.

Ultimately,
Jesus came because He loved His people,
Jesus lived in love for His people,
and Jesus died in love for His people,
so that He could love them
Eternally.

If there's one thing I want you to remember from all of this, it's just two simple words: love people.

LOVE is what saved you when Jesus died.
LOVE is what will outlast brokenness.
LOVE is a reflection of Him.
LOVE is more important than winning arguments, getting the best grades, or the best spot on the varsity team, or the biggest role in the school play, or the latest promotion at work.
LOVE is the only thing we can offer to the God who gave us all.
LOVE is what people are going to remember about you.

...Love, Anna...