As a young girl, I remember one of the first things I learned in Sunday school was loving your neighbor. I was eight at the time, and for a while, I thought that that saying actually meant loving the people that live across the street or next door to you. Funny right? I guess so. But little did I know, it meant more than that. Loving your neighbor meant you should love everyone. After learning what “love your neighbor” actually met, I remember having some doubts about it. I was in third grade at the time, and was getting bullied by a girl in my class. She would push me in the hallway and say some pretty mean things. I remember when girls in my class had birthday parties, I was always hesitant to go because I was afraid she was going to be there. That was really the first time I was bullied and at that point, I didn’t think I could ever love her. I don’t remember ever talking about that in Sunday school, but I remember thinking about it while I was there. At the time, I still didn’t understand why God wanted us to love our neighbors, even when people were so mean to us. Sixth grade was another turning point for me when it came to bullying. I remember being bullied on my bus by some older children. For what, I don’t remember. I was also picked on constantly in my reading class that year, when some kids called on me to read just to hear me stutter. At that time, I still wasn’t sure why God wanted us to love our neighbors. The bullying had gotten worse in my opinion and I just wasn’t in a place to love anyone that was rude to me. In my opinion, I’m not sure why I should be nice to them when they were mean to me. Once I got to high school, the bullying slowly went away. I guess that’s when (most) kids grew up and really didn’t see the need to do it anymore. I don’t want to speak for everyone, but that was the case for me. Once I got older, I became more invested in the church. I asked questions more and I remember having deep conversations with my pastor more. However, I still didn’t understand “loving your neighbor.” It wasn’t until I got to college, that things finally started to click for me. When I was in undergraduate, I found a bible study that was really supportive. That was kind of my Sunday school while I was away at college. I remember we talked a lot about loving your neighbor, and I remember realizing that it actually was not that hard as I thought it was. I didn’t have to talk back to anyone, or be physical back. Instead, we talked about showing kindness to the people that are mean to us. The truth is, maybe they don’t know Jesus. Maybe they never got the opportunity to go to a church, or read a bible, or have someone tell them about him. If we showed them kindness and love, maybe they would find God too. It can also be helpful to pray for those people that might be mean or rude to you. The best part is that you do not have to tell anyone that you’re praying for them, but you can if you want to. That way, you’re raising their name up to God and he can start working in their lives. Who knows? You might see a difference. I’m sure that there are some people out there who are struggling with loving their neighbor, and one piece of advice I can give is to remember what John 15:12 says.
“Love others, as I have loved you.”