1, 2, 3 John Blog 2

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves I born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” 1 John 4:7-13
“But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning –you must walk in it.” 2 John 5-6
“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” 3 John 11
To accept God's love and love Him back means that we well love each other. If we do not love each other, how can we say that we love God. If you love somebody you love their work and we all are created in God's image by God. Therefore we cannot just not love each other because then we are insulting God. This is especially true because God loved us before we loved Him. We deserve nothing from Him yet He has given so much. And how do we tend to repay Him? We do not love others...ouch.
There is this girl who I have a really hard time getting along with. Honestly, I do not understand what went wrong, but it is very obvious that she does not like me. Yet I am supposed to love her? Yep. I have been trying to deal with frustrations at her all semester and it is not easy. I have tried smiling at her and saying 'hi' when I pass her. I have also tried ignoring her when I see her and avoiding her when I can. Nothing is working. As I read through these verses, I thought of her.
“What am I supposed to do, God?” I asked. He said that I could try praying for her and praying for encounters with her.
Honestly, I don't like that answer. She has said somethings to me that have hurt me. But that has always been God's answer when I have a problem with people who I don't get along with who have hurt me. Pray for them. And it really has worked when I have listened. Prayer puts your mind on God and His heart. If His heart radically beats with love for that person you don't like and you are praying for them, it really is hard to keep not liking them.