Loving All People

I am often very thankful that I did not live under “the Law” of the Old Testament. Trying to “keep” 600+ commandments would have been impossible. The Israelites did not/could not keep the TEN that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai - - nor do WE in our current lives. Truth be told, I have a hard enough time keeping the TWO that Jesus told the disciples were the greatest in Matthew 22:37-40. I don’t know about you, but it’s easy to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind” (verse 37). It’s fairly easy to love those in my life who are “easy” to love – those who love me, those who call themselves my friends, even those who share similar interests like church, God, golf or sardines (seeing if you were REALLY reading). It’s not quite as easy to love those who have differences with me, especially in today’s “Cancel culture” society – or those who do things totally contrary to what I believe – like those who would take advantage of people in vulnerable situations – disabled, unemployed, elderly, disadvantaged, the unborn “innocents”. I often struggle to remember/remind myself that God’s will is stated very clearly in 2 Peter 3:9 “not wishing for ANY to perish, but for ALL to come to repentance.” Yes, that “ALL” means even those that I have a difficult time “liking” – much less, “loving”. My prayer is that the Lord would help me to LOVE every human being with the kind of love that HE hasfor them – and for me.God Bless you, as you walk your journey called life, and as you also love God and others. Cliff G