Choosing to Love

      We are told as Christians that we should love our enemies and our brother/sisters.  I never really gave this much thought until recently.
      After I got my license I got quite a few babysitting jobs.  There were 2 babysitting jobs that were pretty regular.  One was for a single mother and her 5 year old daughter.  The other was for my cousin and her 3 daughters.  It was easy, even natural, to love these three girls.  They are all cute and sweet.  Plus their parents believe in the same wonderful God I do.  The fact that I am related to them only made me more comfortable in their presence.  Loving them made babysitting an enjoyable process.  I would look forward to spending time with them and was better able to care for their needs, for I served with eagerness and would punished them only with the desire that they would become better people when they were older (not that I ever had to go beyond a serious tone to get them to listen). 
       For the other family it was a different story.  It wasn't that the single mom's daughter was any less sweet, or that the mother was any less appreciative or had any less love for her daughter, but she was not family and she did not live a Christian life which made me feel more distant from her.  But God loves her and her daughter as much as He loves me.  Yet it was harder to get up to babysit for her and I would drag my feet on the way to the car.  I complained and, although not out loud, whined to God about helping me get through another day of babysitting.  I forced myself to treat the girl like I treated my cousin's kids but it didn't come naturally at first.  After a while it became too hard not to fall in love with this charming little girl and hard working (if not a little lost) mother.  After that I was better able to serve the Lord with this family.  I was more willing to talk about God and, when I prayed, it wasn't for me, but for the salvation of this family and their wellbeing.
      The Lord taught me that although you can perform the same action (like taking care of a child); it will all amount to nothing if not done with a servant's heart.