Love One Another

My first thought about love was that love is a chemical imbalance – hormones and emotions out of control, not logical.

My loving wife Dawn taught me that love is much more than that!

Love is the positive force in this world, and the most powerful force in this world! And, actually, it is logical to be a loving person!

True love is best defined in 1st Corrinthians,13.4:

“Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

That is truly a beautiful definition!

Jesus made a simple commandment to “Love One Another.” No matter what our beliefs – we can “Love one another.” When Jesus walked Earth, He showed us how love heals, is tolerant, works miracles, forgives and comforts.

Most religions see the Divine answer within us. Love is within us. It is the answer! And, it is the basis of our happiness.

Love is a choice – a choice we can make. How can we choose to love, to live, to learn, to awaken the love within, to communicate it, nourish it, share it, and become teachers of love by example?

When children test our love we forgive them and love them unconditionally.

Why not forgive and love everyone…unconditionally?

We can forgive others by accepting the pain and being motivated not to pass it onto our kids and grandkids and others.

There is a place for love. Find a way to forgive. Love and forgiveness are “Simple Gifts”… They cost us nothing. They mean everything.

In the cartoon “Clifford The Big Red Dog”, an animal friend says of Clifford – “He loves me just the way I am.” If our dog loves us as we are, why can’t we love everyone just the way they are?

Dr. Robert H. Schuller teaches that life is too short to be angry with anyone. If we are angry for more than a minute, “We” are not dealing with it properly.

Whether about war or a personal relationship, continuing anger will not bring us peace.

Love is just another decision we can make. All we have to do is make that decision. And, even if we make a wrong decision about love or about life; all we have to do is make another one. Love is easier one decision at a time. Life is easier one decision at a time.

Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” I love that! “If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.”

Dr. Leo Buscaglia taught a college course at Berkely called ‘Love 101’.  He had a waiting list for his class. Many wanted to learn about love. It should be taught in our schools.

Buscaglia loved to hug people. Scared some! He said we control how we respond to others. If we “Live without expectations” of others, if we don’t expect others to act in a certain way, we will be less disappointed.

Buddhism teaches that, “When we cease expecting, we have everything.”

My son called and said, “Dad, I have read the books and watched the videos you sent me on how to improve my marriage and I have the answer on making a woman happy – just give her everything she wants.” I love it! And, ladies… it works on men too!

My son said something far more profound. He said, “I thank God every night for my wife”. We can choose to be thankful each day for our spouse. Thank them for the love we do get. We do not have to demand or expect 100% in return. Just say thank you to yourself if nothing else. It is better to be thankful than not feeling thankful.

We need to understand that we all process information differently. We all think differently. The good news is that we can think! And, we can choose how we think and how we react to others.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said we should choose to think positive. If we think negative, we feel negative. We can think positive and feel positive.

Love sometimes helps and sometimes hurts. On occasion someone will defy our understanding. But love does not require that we understand others – rather, understanding others requires our love.

Young Dr. Robert A. Schuller says that: When life gets us down…look up! Sounds too simple? But try it! We cannot feel down when looking up!

With love we can change the future, forgive the past, and find comfort.

With love we can choose how we respond to others, and not to be angry.

We can choose the way we look at things.

We can “Live without expectations” of others.

We can make decisions without fear, and we can always make new decisions.

We can be thankful for the love we do get.

But, we cannot do any of these things without love.

We can decide to love one another. The Beatles shout it and sing it – “All You Need Is Love”. All we need is to “Love one another!” Love is a decision! It is our decision. It is the answer.

And the most beautiful thing about love is this – we can give all our love away, and not lose any of it. For love grows love. It thrives when we feed it. We can give it to others, and get more back!

Love cannot divide or subtract. Love can only add and multiply.

Love is the most positive force in this world. Love is the most powerful force in this world! Let your love multiply and “Love One Another!”

For this is love, and nothing else is love. Love one another! “Your God loves you and so do I!”