You Don't Have to Like Everybody

I love Italian food. Specifically pasta. But I don't get to indulge very often in this cuisine. There are two reason why...

1. Carbohydrates.

2. My husband doesn't eat carbohydrate filled pasta.

Cooking for a family of five is a hard task.  When one of the biggest eaters of the clan doesn't eat a certain food, the cook tends to eliminate it from the menu plans completely. I have never wanted to be a short order cook.

But occasionally we will find an Italian restaurant that strikes his fancy and he will order a non-pasta dish and I can indulge.  This was true a few years ago with our friends, Joey and Kristen from our former home of Rome, Georgia.

Tony's Pasta Shop & Trattoria. This is home to a seafood ravioli that is to die for!  That night the four of us gathered around a table and three of the four of us feasted on pasta...the other made due.

Besides the food, the fellowship that exists between the four of us when we get the chance to visit is sweet, sacred, and spirit-filled.  To say that the Haynes are special to us in an understatement.

That specific evening I was sharing a struggle I was having. It had some to do along the lines of dealing with a difficult person. I was a having a hard time getting along with someone in my life and it was consuming my people-pleasing self.  I wanted to be liked by and in return wanted to like this person.

My three dinner dates listened and let me vent a bit. Then Joey shared some wisdom...

"God didn't say you had to like everybody. He said you had to love everybody."

I let that sink in for a few seconds. Then the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders.

You don't have to like everyone you encounter.  Some folks will rub you the wrong way.  Some people are mean. Some are just too nice. There will be people in life that you find very approachable...others not so much. You will cross paths with individuals that will creep you out. A few people in your life may just irritate you to no end.  There will even be some people that will be toxic and that with which you have to part ways.

You don't have to like them. It's okay.

Everyone you encounter doesn't have to like you. You will rub some folks the wrong way.  Some people will think you are mean. Some will think you are just too nice. There will be people that find you very approachable...others not so much. You will cross paths with individuals that you creep out. You will irritate a few people in your life to no end.  For some, you may be toxic and they will have to part ways with you.

They don't have to like you. It's okay.

But we are called to love.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

John 15:12

"Above all, love each other deeply..."
I Peter 4:8

"Let all that you do be done in love."
I Corinthians 16:14

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God."
I John 4:7-8

The list could go on and on. We are told to love our neighbor, our spouse, and our parents. We are commanded to love. Scriptures tell us to love God first. We are to love our children. We are to love and care for members of the church. 

And then comes this one...

"Love your enemies, do good to them..."
Luke 6:35

Hold the phone! Say what?! That's right...even those people that you don't like...even to go as far as calling them your enemies...yeah, you gotta love them, too. Even when someone doesn't like you in return? There are no "buts" or "except whens" or "only ifs". The answer is the same. Love.

This can look a lot of different ways. It can look like prayer. It can be a kind gesture or a smile. A lot of times it is clothed in patience and grace. Most of the time it is quiet, maybe even silent...this one is hard for almost all of us. Sometimes it is staying out of someone's way and other times it looks like making an amends and moving on. 

We just have to always ask ourselves..."Don't worry about whether I like them or not...but am I loving them?" We should ask ourselves this question so very often, during several moments of the day. Because you see, lots of moments make up a life. And Christ told us exactly what to do with our life...

"Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Ephesians 5:2

Live a life of love, whether you like some folks or not. Christ gave himself up for us. The least we can do is love as close as how He did, making that our sacrifice to God the Father.