“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:7-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

These verses have been on my mind so much lately. In today’s divisive political environment I would like to just reach out to my fellow Christians and remind us all that no matter how you may feel about a person or group of people, Jesus called us to love them. Imagine the person or group you find most loathsome in life and guess what, God wants you to love him or her. Not in a sarcastic, “Bless your heart” kind of way, but in a genuine, all-encompassing and compassionate way, the way Christ loved the unloveable in his community, the tax-collectors, the prostitutes. We have the incredible ability in this modern age to communicate with people who live miles away, people who we may never meet.

Too often we choose to show them anger or offense rather than compassion and love. As Christians, I implore us to open up and reach out. Don’t ridicule and close off. Who are the “tax-collectors” among you? Seek them out and show them love. Remember that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, even we ourselves. (Romans 3:22-26) these verses are a good reminder for whenever we are feeling superior to anyone.

Please, love each other, even those who are hard to love and will not love you back. (Matthew 5:43-48). If you can’t find love for someone, ask God to give you love for that person or group. Really open yourself up to it, you will find loving your enemies to be much more rewarding than hating them, I promise.