Loving one another sounds simple—until I get on I-4 in Central Florida. Then things change quickly. It’s easy to love people when they’re kind to me. It’s much harder when they’re not. But as Christians, we believe Jesus Christ is the way to Heaven. And if we want to follow Him there, we need to walk in His footsteps. Following in Jesus’ footsteps means listening to His commands, and one of His greatest commands was to love one another.
Everyone faces moments when love comes naturally and times when it’s a struggle. The real challenge, and the place where growth happens, is learning to love when it’s hard. The more we practice loving others, the less we fall into sin and the closer we grow to God. When we truly love someone, we don’t want to hurt them. Instead, we want what’s best for them.
The world teaches us to look out for ourselves. Jesus teaches us to look out for others. If we follow the world’s way, we might succeed in this life. But if we follow Jesus, we’ll succeed in the life that truly matters: eternal life.
There is so much pain and darkness around us. That’s why Christians are called to be a light. If we don’t shine into the darkness, some people may stay lost in it. We grieve for those who die, but we should grieve even more for those who die spiritually. Physical death is temporary. Spiritual death is forever.
Jesus tells us to remain in His love. He says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” His goal isn’t just to see us happy here on Earth, but for us to be happy for all of eternity. Learning to love others takes time and effort, but the reward is worth it.
