Love is hard

I was just in the car minutes ago listening to klove, 

which I do at times when I need to feel uplifted and encouraged, 

but sometimes I hear hard things from there, sometimes I just feel convicted. 

I heard this song, for the first time, and it just struck me in the heart. 

I had tears streaming down my face... I'll explain, but listen...its really good.

Onto my explanation...

The other night at Bible study we were reading verses that had to do with loving people.

We are told to love people,

COMMANDED to love people, 

which is easy to do when people are easy to love. 

Yet, we are commanded to love those who are even hard to love. 

We are commanded to love people who we don't like, who aren't loving towards us.

That is so hard! I confessed to the other girls in my Bible study that there is a person in my

life that I really just flat out don't like. I feel a lot of bitterness and even hatred toward this person.

Every time this person comes to mind I feel those things fill my heart. 

I know its not right to hate. God tells us that.
I know that I am suppose to love this person regardless of how I may feel about them.

I know that I am suppose to love this person even if they aren't loving towards me.

I know that I should pray for this person because that is the ONLY WAY my heart will change towards that person. 

I've been in this place before... feeling bitterness and hatred so deep that it was in my life daily.

The thing about those things though... they may not even affect the person we feel them towards,

but let me tell you, they WILL AFFECT the person feeling them. 

I know this because at one point in my life, I laid in my bed for months, sobbing to God and writing to God to help me not hate. 

It eats at you. It hurts you. 

I'm in that place now again...where its becoming that strong and I don't like it! 

God doesn't like it either... 

That's what He was trying to tell me by playing this song, when I could hear it. 

So I'll pray about this and for that person because LOVE is the most important thing.

Without it, I have nothing. 

Friends, if you're feeling the same way I encourage you to listen to God's word and try with all that is in you, to not hate. It's hard, but since He commanded us not to do it, but TO LOVE, then 

He knows we can. For He wouldn't command us of something that He couldn't help us with.