"My name is Doug. I have just met you, and I love you." "...and I love that man there like he is my master. " " I hide under your porch because I love you." "You are my friend and I love you."
Doug the Dog is a perfect example of how God wants us to love others. He loves. And loves. And loves some more on top of that. Doug loves this grouchy old man, for no apparent reason. He continues to love him no matter what Carl says or does to him. Carl despises Doug and ignores him, nigh on abuses him. Doug continues to show love to the loveless old man. I wish I could love like Doug. To love no matter what others do to me. To love without fail. To love like a dog. I wanna love like a dog. There I said it. I WANT TO LOVE LIKE A DOG!
I find it easy to love people. It is the way I am. I enjoy loving people. But when it comes to loving no matter what someone says or does to me, I find my limits. I find it harder to love when I feel hurt by someone. Should I just choose to stop feeling hurt? Ignore what other people say that hurts me? Maybe. Should I continue loving them even when I want to hate them? Certainly. Another time when I find it hard to love is when I don't feel loved myself (which, to keep things clear, is very infrequent). But when I make myself love people particularly when it is hard, I find that it is the time I feel most... humm how do I say this without sounding selfish? loved back. Love is like a liquid. a magical liquid where the more you pour out of your cup the more you get put back into it (with interest =] ). If that makes sense.
(This is not gonna be one of those posts where I give you a thousand things to think about at once. I promise)
How about loving someone when they reject you? Now that's fun. No, really, its really hard. But it pays off in the long run. I can't really share an example but trust me. It does.
I have to go but I will leave you with this thought. LOVE LIKE A DOG!
