What is Love?

(baby don't hurt me...don't hurt me....) 

(...is a battlefield)

This is a question that is debated over and over again. It is the subject of basically every song and usually a part of any book. 

Love. 

This is something I have been struggling with. 

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the greatest and first commandment.

 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”- Matthew 22:36-40 

let me repeat one part 

And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 

(disclaimer: stereotypes used below)

How simple does that sound? Like, the easiest thing ever right?

But our neighbors are more than the people we agree with.

It is easy for me to love my gay neighbors, my transgender neighbors, my Episcopalian neighbors, my Presbyterian neighbors, my drag queen neighbors, my Democratic neighbors, My muslim neighbor and my atheist/agnostic neighbors. 

Those are my people. I LOVE those people.  They are the downtrodden and I relate to them.

It is easy for me to use  

‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 

to show my close minded Baptist/Methodist/Catholic neighbor about how they should love others. I even think of them as "Christians" (emphasis on the QUOTATION MARKS) because they are not accepting of those who are different (specifically the LGBTQ community) but I am JUST AS BAD AS BAD IF NOT WORSE BECAUSE

 I AM NOT LOVING THEM.

I am judging them.

I am judging them for not loving while committing the exact same sin. 

I am a hypocrite.

How do we balance love and healthy conversations? How to we disagree on fundamental issues but still show love and respect. 

This is where we try to define love. 

Handy Dandy Dictionary.com has several definitions and in this case I think 
verb #18 is the best.... "to need or require, to benefit greatly from".
We benefit from these debates. 
We each think about our beliefs.
We have to learn to be articulate about those beliefs.

Isn't is it great for us to be shaken to our very foundation of faith?
Don't we grow in these situations?

Don't we learn to love ourselves more because we can reiterate these facts?
The more we love ourselves don't we grow to love ALL of our neighbors more?

I am trying to love ALL my neighbors, no matter how difficult.  I hope you will join me.