"A new command I give you: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." - John 13:34

In the ending of 2016, I have felt that there has been a lot of hatred towards people of varying religions, race, sexual orientations, political parties, etc. and it is times like these when I feel the most at my ends. You know when you are like 'God, you called us to do this, but why is it so hard?' I will be the first to admit, it's not easy to love everyone. It's not easy to love people who hate other people and it's not easy to love people who just aren't the best to you, so how do you do it? How can you make yourself love these types of people?

Some people say love is a feeling. They would describe love as the joy that you get around others whom you care deeply about. I would have to disagree. Love is a choice. I choose every day who I am going to love and who I am not going to. That guy who cut me off earlier? Yeah, not choosing to love him today. My roommates when they're in a bad mood? I definitely have to choose to love them in those moments.

Love isn't always easy. That's why Jesus created it as a command because He knows that it's hard to love everyone. He knows that it's hard, but he calls us to do it because that's who we should be as Christians. We should love on others relentlessly. I want to point out that this doesn't mean that we cannot only be happy at all times. It's natural to get upset with the ones that you care about the most. It's natural to argue with them and it's natural to want to pull your hair out over them, but at the end of the day, you still love them.

That's how I believe that God wants us to be with other people. I believe that He wants us to love them so deeply that we don't care to get into little arguments with them. He wants us to love them so deeply that we call them out when they're not doing what's best. He wants us to love them like He does us.

And that's not easy. You cannot just wake up one day and decide to love everyone. There are people that have hurt you and hurt those you love and how can you love them? I don't know. I cannot tell you the answers, but I will tell you that trying your hardest to love on those, even those you can't fathom loving, is all God wants from you. He knows that we are not perfect beings and He loves us anyway for that, but it is necessary to try to love everyone because, in the end, we are all made in God's image as His children.