Every time I start assembling items to get ready to leave my house, Coco goes crazy. He starts barking at me and clawing at my legs. Why? He does not want to be left behind. He prefers to go with me. Fortunately most times he is able to accompany me. Coco loves me very much and well he has some separation anxiety.
The Bible has a lot to say about love. One of the most commonly quoted scripture is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
[4] Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres …
The passage goes on to end with this….
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13
Everyone loves something and someone. Even people that do not believe in Jesus or follow the ways of Christ love. So what makes the love that the Bible talks about different? Jesus teaches us to love even when we do not know the person. Even when someone is our enemy. Even when we think the person is unlovable.
Coco does not love everyone he meets. He loves me. He loves Itsy my other dog. He loves the kids I babysit. But it is not in his instinct to love strangers or his enemy. We as humans are the same. We do not instinctively love our enemy or a stranger. Yet Christ teaches us to do so.
I will be the first to admit I struggle with this. At times I find it challenging to know how best to act and respond in a loving way. But the good news about being a Christian is I have a helper the Holy Spirit to help me learn to love others. And through Jesus death on the cross I have forgiveness for when I fail. So I do my best to love and give all the credit to Jesus because without the help of Jesus I would be just like Coco. Only loving the few that I know and consider a part of my pack.