Bible Snack #70

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7).
 
Ah!  This verse and the next one make up one of my favorite songs. I’ll sing it for you next time. For right now, make this your slogan: “I love everybody and everybody loves me.” If you’ll keep repeating this to yourself, it will very quickly become true. It’s so much more fun to love everybody, than it is to keep people at a distance, to be suspicious or critical. It’s so much more fun to know that everybody thinks the best of you to the point that they love you.
 
Love really is unconditional. Anything less than unconditional isn’t really love, it’s manipulation. I’ll love you if—isn’t love. So stop thinking about whether you measure up, or whether the other person measures up, and just enjoy each person for who they are. After all, God sent them to the earth to be a gift. So open your present and be delighted! When you love like that, you and God are truly united.