Jesus told us to "love our neighbors"...but what about the ones we don't like?

All this week I've been observing how christians act around others. How people who claim to love God whole-heartedly and follow His Word, treat the people that make them mad and the people that really care for them. I witnessed one person offend a someone who is a christian and the christian reacted pretty typically for any normal person. They were hurt which turned to anger towards that person. The offender  is a selfish, obnoxiously in your face kind of person and has the tendency to step on toes wherever they go.

As I thought about their reaction I debated back and forth--  Is this reaction the way Christ would want any of us to act? Would he say we are just in being distant and possibly even rude in return for our feelings being hurt? Then I thought about what I DO. How do I react when people are rude or upset me? How do I treat people that I honestly just don't care for? Then I definitely came to my conclusion.

There is no way God had this attitude in mind for his followers. He didn't say "Love your neighbors..... unless they disagree with everything you say, are mean to you, do stupid things, make horrible decisions, or you just plain don't like them." I really feel like Christ said only those THREE words- because those are the THREE words that He needed us to hear and ONLY those three. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBORS.(PERIOD.)

He knew it is easy to love the people that you like and that like you--but it wouldn't be a commandment if it was easy. The difficult part of that is learning how you love someone who is totally different or opposite or maybe just ridiculously rude. But really, how else will the world know of God's real love? His unfailing, truthful, desperate, passionate LOVE.

The Lord taught me today that I HAVE to watch how I react to others. Whether they are friends, parents, siblings, teammates, professors, acquaintances, neighbors or enemies. I can't act on my initial human responses. I have to remember to ACT in love. We all need to remember that... I know it would make this world a much better place.