Unconditional love

To love someone not because that person deserves to be loved shows true love. This kind of love is possible when we allow God to love us. God's love is sufficient for us that we are able to love others without condition.

A heart like God's

When Jesus asks us to love our enemies, I don't think that He meant that we begin to treat them as our best friends. That wouldn't be possible.
I believe what He means is that we treat people well, we wish people well, even those who do not treat us well. We don't wish people harm, even those who do us a lot of harm.
Instead, we pray for them. We ask that in God they may find what is best for their life. We pray for their sake, not for ours.
And as what happens when we truly pray, God will transform our hearts unto His own heart, a heart of goodness and mercy.

Life's equation

Yesterday was my birthday, my forty-ninth! Where did all those years go? It seems like it was only yesterday when I was thinking about what I would do when I grow up. Now I am close to the half-century mark.
One of the perks of growing old is that your treasure chest of wisdom grows even without going to school or an updating course. Life itself is our school. But it is up to us to be enriched by the lessons that we learn.
And one of the greatest lessons I've learned is that I can never be in control of anything. Despite my best laid plans, there is always a place for a "variable" or two that can change the equation.
But I have also learned that there is always one "constant", the presence of a loving God.
If we allow that "constant" in, our equation is always full of hope.