Do you ever feel like you’re under a heavy cloud and there are lots of people around you that just rub you wrong.
Sometimes we hate the good in someone else because it’s not in us.
The things I hate in myself, are often the things I hate in others. Sometimes its a particular sin, sometimes it’s the persons kindness, joy or peace that isn’t living in me.
Then the flip side. Sometimes we feel people being at odds with us because of the way we love God and others.
How do we get out of that?

Living in hate, jealously, anger kills the soul. It leads to living in death.
1 John essentially says we will know that we are fully alive when we love. If you don’t love, you live in death, darkness.
Jesus is the ultimate example for love, in laying down his life for us.
We should follow Jesus’ example of love and lay down our lives for others.
For most of us this probably won’t mean physical death, so John gives us an example:
if you have the world’s goods, see someone in need and refuse to help, you’re not loving. Laying down your life would be letting go of what you have to help someone else. To put the needs of someone else above your own.
Love comes with action, not simply with words. We can say words all day long, but what do our actions say? Are we really loving others with what we do?

Keep in mind, sometimes it’s not the worlds goods that we have to offer. Peter and John are going to the temple one day and meet a blind beggar. “Silver and gold have I none, but in the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk.” Sometimes we can come alongside others and really offer them faith, help them meet Jesus. Help them find healing and peace by helping them meet Jesus.

Here’s why this doing this is so good for us, for our person.

When we are loving others, we reassure our hearts that we are on the right path.
Living out the love of God, makes God very real to our souls. When love comes alive in our actions, the presence of the Holy Spirit often becomes very real.

That moment of loving, serving others and the presence of the Holy Spirit can be a catalyst for our relationship with God. Our prayers become more like conversation than a request list. We follow God’s commandments more out of a desire to maintain life than trying to keep the rules. Then we find that we’re living in love with God, with others, and with ourselves.