“Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:2-3, NLT)
What touched my soul most about this passage is the exhortation to think more highly of others. This sounded like a good statement for me to focus on in my journey toward being more openly loving to others. (I don't necessarily harbor a lot of hatred, though, like anyone else, I have had my share of dislikes when it comes to people. My biggest problem is being an introverted person, with baggage rooted in fear, and struggling to get beyond myself to establishing meaningful connections with others.)
Think about it: If we are honest with ourselves, the people we gossip about, scream at in our minds (or aloud), and otherwise harbor negative feelings toward are ones to whom we have assigned second-class human status. We are not considering them on our level (of intelligence, compassion, whatever), and we are certainly not loving them. We may not even call them by their names in conversation, instead resorting to “that woman,” “him,” or something worse that we'd never want to escape from our mouths.
How would your attitude change toward someone if you upgraded your perception of them? Someone with whom I face a struggle currently immediately came to mind for me. If you consider your “problem person” the same as you, or better, it becomes impossible to think about them the same light as before.
There are many areas of life that can be challenging, but the hardest has to be doling out love unconditionally, in the spirit that Jesus intended. I thank God for the ways He has changed my spirit so far, and I look forward to more work!
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