Loving People Like Jesus Loves

Who doesn't admire Fred Rogers, his character and all his wisdom? My children grew up watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. I even grew up watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Generations have grown up watching this man and his humble love for others. Two of my favorite Mr. Rogers quotes are​:​

"Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people." and "How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us." –Fred Rogers

Isn't it the truth! I am so glad that God loved me, even before I loved Him. He knew me before I knew Him. He knows my ugliness and all my messiness, and yet He STILL loves me.

"But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 

In the scope of all the amazing grace that we find in Jesus Christ, I find this one truth the most amazing. "In that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Isn't that so amazing! And this amazing grace right here gives me hope! It gives me hope of growing in Christ. Hope of growing into a healthy relationship with Him, but not only with Him, with other's as well.

There are people like me, needy and messy. People with pasts they can't let go of, yet they find it immensely difficult to live with. Isn't it sad that we give up on those people when Jesus never gives up on us? If we can find the ability to deliver to them the grace we have so freely received, what a wonderful world it would be! If only we can reach the needy and messy, and embrace them with love as Jesus would.

​I've often thought, if we look around on Sunday morning, during worship, and find that everyone looks and acts just like us, there's a problem. We're not reaching the needy and messy. We're not reaching the ones who are searching for hope. We have hope, but we're not delivering it to those who need it most if this is the case.
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He showed His love for us when we were still sinners. We should do the same for those around us.

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Looking for a modern-day Fred Rogers? Allow me to introduce you to Bob Goff. Bob loves people! His book Everybody, Always will bring out the Fred Rogers in you!

​If you want to cultivate a love for people, real people, not just the easy-to-get-along-with type of people, but real, everyday people, because you know we are not all always easy to get along with, this book is for you! 

If you know someone who works with people, this book is for them. It was life-changing for me and I will never look at people the same again, even the difficult-to-love kind of people. 

“Jesus talked to His friends a lot about how we should identify ourselves. He said it wouldn’t be what we said we believed or all the good we hoped to do someday. Nope, He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not. Love isn’t something we fall into; love is someone we become.” ―Bob Goff, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People

​I have grown a love for people that I thought could never be possible. That love is straight from God, but this book aided that gift in a huge way. I love what he says in his book, "Love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits." Without distinction. Without limits. We sure need more of that in the world today!

"In his entertaining and inspiring follow-up to the New York Times bestselling phenomenon Love Does, Bob Goff takes readers on a journey into the secret of living without fear, constraint, or worry. The path toward the liberated existence, we all long for, is found in a truth as simple to say as it is hard to do: Love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits.

Driven by Bob’s trademark storytelling, Everybody, Always reveals the lessons Bob learned--often the hard way--about what it means to love without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. From finding the right friends to discovering the upside of failure, Everybody, Always points the way to embodying love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible. Whether losing his shoes while skydiving solo or befriending a Ugandan witch doctor, ​Bob steps into life with a no-limits embrace of others that is as infectious as it is extraordinarily ordinary. Everybody, Always reveals how we can do the same." -goodreads

“I’ve spent my whole life avoiding the people Jesus spent His whole life engaging” ―Bob Goff, Everybody, Always.

Don't Miss This!

If you do nothing else but read the chapter about the Ugandan witch doctor, this book is so worth every penny! The chapter will open your eyes to what a God with no limits can do against seemingly impossible opposition and how a life that humanly speaking seems lost forever can be changed and then used to change the lives of so many others. ​

Let our limitless God do what seems impossible by giving you the kind of love for people that can only come from the One who created them in His image!

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Fred Rogers and Bob Goff are modern day people lovers. They love like Jesus! And Jesus loves people like we should love people. Who in your life has been a picture of Jesus when it comes to loving people?