Loving the Unlovable

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

— 1 John 4:7

If you’ve ever worked with children, you know they are each unique. Yet they can fall into groups. Some are confident and outgoing. Some are shy and quiet. Some are easy going. But some are annoying and seem to be troublemakers. These needy children are usually starved for attention and love. They want to be noticed, but they don’t know how to get attention in a positive way. And kids aren’t the only ones who can fall into that category.

But no matter how difficult it is to do, we’re called to love one another. God wants us to seek out the lovable qualities in everyone.

When you cut an apple crosswise, the seeds form a star. It’s a hidden pattern in every apple, but we usually miss it because we’re looking at the apple the wrong way. Like apples, every person has hidden qualities we could see if we looked at them from a different angle.

Every person is God’s creation. And He sees that they are starving for someone to care about them, to remind them they are worthy of love. He sees His reflection in each person. But we miss that reflection when we focus only on the traits that rub us the wrong way. If we take a closer look at the unlovable and overlooked, we may find the star in each of them.

Today’s One Thing

Seek and praise the positive qualities you discover in people, especially someone who has bothered you in the past.

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