Loving an Emotionally Weak Person

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

─ 1 John 4:19-21 NIV

Loving an Emotionally Weak Person

Some people are wired in such a way that they are more emotionally sensitive than most of us. It is part of their personality, and they seem to always set themselves up to be vulnerable, to be more emotionally weak than others, and it can be an outcome of past experiences. Often we see them as difficult relationships.

In the verses today, John’s words are strong – we should love others simply because God loved us. If you don’t love others, then you really don’t love God. If we don’t love those we can see, we don’t truly love a God we can’t see. Verse 21 is a command: anyone who loves God must also love others.

So, one thing you can do to love an emotionally weak person is to pray for wisdom and patience. Ask God to give you wisdom as you try to love them and demonstrate kindness to them when they are struggling at the emotional level.

How you deal with and love an emotionally weak person tells you a lot about yourself. When you’re around an emotionally weak person it can set your own emotional triggers off. You know what those are: a word, a phrase, a look. It also tells a lot about your attitude. When things get tough, it shows us who we really are down deep.

Today’s One Thing

Take time this week and consider your own areas of vulnerability emotionally and ask God to help you to learn how to be intentional in how you interact with people who are emotionally weak.

Additional Reading

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