Like It? Just Do It? by Andy McDonald

I have to admit that I really, REALLY, like the Florida Hospital Church’s mission statement: “Loving people into a lifelong friendship with God.”  I might have liked it even more if it had just been “Loving people!”

David Benner makes this bold statement on page 11 of his book Surrender to Love:

There is nothing more important in life than learning to love and be loved.

Jesus elevated love as the goal of spiritual transformation. 
Giving and receiving love is at the heart of being human.

Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to love God supremely, and the second (which is equal to it) is loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. I like the sound of the FHC mission.  It seems to match Jesus’ teaching and sounds like a word variation of the Great Commission.  I like it, but how do we just do it?  What does loving people look like in everyday life?

Those in church circles are excellent at making things harder than they should be.  Paul created a list that should be a decent place to start.  His list consists of things love is and things that love is not. I want to focus first on the negative—what love is not.  If we find ourselves behaving in ways listed in the “love is not” category, it is a great opportunity to self-check and make the shift to practicing the things love is.

Love is not jealous, proud, rude, demanding of its own way, irritable, a record keeper of wrongs, never celebrates injustice, never gives up, and never loses faith. 

A great start on loving people is to not be what love is not, to not treat people in ways love doesn’t. On a more positive note, here is the prescriptive for being loving—a description of love.

Love is patient, kind, happy when truth wins, always hopeful, endures through every circumstance, lasts forever, and is greater than all else.

Let’s just pick “kind.”  Love is kind. There are reasons to be upset in life.  Things can frustrate, and we can be overwhelmed.  But there is never a reason to be unkind. It may be waving someone into your lane in traffic, helping hold or open a door, making cookies for someone, or telling me when some of my lunch is on my face to keep me from embarrassment. Whether it is giving someone their much-needed job or having to terminate an employee, no matter how personally painful the task, there is no reason to be unkind.  Regardless of how poor the service and unpleasant the server, we can still be kind. Understand that our being kind may not always be received as kindness.  But even then, in all circumstances, forever we can choose to be kind.

How easy it is to rain on someone’s parade. It is so easy to tell people why their idea won’t work or that their suggestion is inferior.  It may be some new enterprise or relationship, the restaurant they want to visit, or the movie they pick.  Even when we disagree or when we are sure they are headed for disaster, our attempts at course correction must be hopeful of their dream even as we help redirect. And, let’s face it, most of the time we don’t know, and maybe we love best when we are simply hopeful with them—an encourager is acting in love.

When you are kind to your kids, spouse, friends, enemies, classmates, boss, employees, etc., in that moment of being kind you are “Loving people into a lifelong friendship with God.” And when you are the spark of hope for people, you are “Loving people into a lifelong friendship with God.”

Since God is love, I think Benner is right, “There is nothing more important in life than learning to love and be loved!” So just do it—be patient, kind, happy when truth wins, always hopeful, and endure through every circumstance.  Be a lover of people—just do it!

Andy McDonald