But the second part doesn't always make sense to us. We're told, in addition to loving God, to love each other as we love ourselves.
I don't want to try to broadefine (that's my made-up word for trying to broaden a definition into a perversely general form ) "love" to prove that loving people can be done. Loving people is hard, because sometimes they're pretty darn unlovable. But I do want to revisit the topic because I'm undergoing a fairly remarkable and drastic purging of formerly held attitudes, one of which was that other people don't matter that much.
There's a common acronym for TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More. I've always thought it a little cheesy, but every part of my life is confirming this immutable truth. There was a time when I thought a little bit too highly of myself, and that I didn't really need other people. What I'm finding out as I meet more people is how valuable their knowledge and experience is. There are millions of things to learn just by meeting a new person, and there's seven billion of us here. When we are with people and trying to accomplish something together, we become a monolith of thought and experience. I love it.
So what I'm positing is this: there's logic in the second part of the love commandment. God must have known we're at our best when we're among other people, so he must have known it would have been wise to command us to love one another. Loving one another is the most expedient route to the most efficient team. It's not always easy, but it's always worth the cost. Without it we forfeit the opportunity to maximize our potential, and that is the tragedy of living by the "go-it-alone" mentality.
What I'm saying is I'm coming around. I used to not value the company or discourse of other people, and I was missing out. So, I'm doing away with that attitude. People simply matter too much. I guess I've decided to be a people person.
Now you're probably thinking I was just trying to bait you into commenting. There was far more behind this post than that, but I would sure enjoy reading your thoughts.
3 comments:
Isn't it just like our good God to give us the gift of choice. He patiently and lovingly, without reproach, waits for us to decide to do it His way! And then, on top of that, He loads us with many benefits when we choose well!
Having the revelation that 'people matter' really is a 'God thing.' Even though we may say we believe people matter, most of us don't demonstrate it by our actions. Whether it is our impatience in our driving, or when a clerk in the store doesn't respond the way we think they should or someone offends us, when it comes down to it we often demonstrate that we believe that we matter more.
I believe it is only God's grace that changes our focus from self to others in the long run. We can fake it for a while, but when the love of God flows through us it is simply amazing! I know I need more of that amazing grace!
You are so right, Rod. I jumped the gun on revelation by talking of choice. It's once revelation happens, that we have our eyes opened to choose His way or staying with our own.
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