Day 17:
I can guarantee that you will encounter hard times, but also hard people in this life. There are many people who have dealt with or are dealing with serious issues themselves and they then take it out on us. I know I have done it before, but I try to be aware of it.
So how do you deal with them? Do unto others as you would have them do to you? No, I think it is more deep than that. Mark 12:31 says to "love others as you love yourself". It does not say only nice people or people that are good to you, but to love "others". That is everyone. Let's break this down a little. "Love others as you love yourself"? Most of us are, at least superficially, so in love with ourselves that we could never even come close to loving others as ourselves, but we must make the effort. We must begin to put others before ourselves and not just our children or spouses, but all people.
How hard is that? Well, it is impossible to do consistently, every day. But there are different types of love that can be shown. Sometimes that love is kissing the forehead of my children, sometimes it is grabbing my wife's hand and smiling at her, and sometime, just sometimes, it is turning around and walking away from someone who has a hard personality. I think if you investigate, you will find that most hard people have endured hard times and cannot let them go, so that should help us attempt to love them.
Imagine if everyone on the face of the earth attempted to do what is said in Mark 12:31? Will it get you taken advantage of? Absolutely. Is is still the right thing to do? Absolutely. If you try to live your life this way, you will become frustrated many times, and you will be praised to the point of losing your humility if you are not careful, but, I believe, it is how we should live.
Challenge: Do something today for someone who will not know that you did it for them, and they could never repay you for what you did.
