Opening Doors

He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

—1 John 4:21

Sometimes love asks you to change. Life is full of opportunities to love someone well by loving their thing, not just your thing, by stretching across your preferences and opinions and comforts.

It’s so easy to love people who like all the same things you do—who never listen to music that makes you cringe, or who believe all the same things you believe. But love sometimes asks you to lay down your preferences and dive into someone else’s world for a little while.

Sometimes that world is the ballet or country music or Russian novels. Sometimes it’s staying quiet when you want to talk. Sometimes it’s giving space when you want to rush in. Love asks what’s best for the person you love, not what’s best or most convenient to you.

Sometimes love opens doors for you that you never knew were there. You may dive into someone else’s world thinking you’re doing them a favor, only to wind up learning something new about yourself. Love will expand your horizons in ways you can’t even imagine.