Welcome to part 2 of "What I Have Learned From My Dogs". To read part 1 of the series, click here.
Freckles- Lover of Love
Freckles is our Pitt-bull mix. She is one of the most relaxed, slow-moving dogs I've ever seen. Freckle's is a lover-girl. She is sweet, gentle, and very intuitive to pain. Bella has a hard time with itchy ears and Molly has skin issues. Freckles will find the bad spots on Molly and lick them, and she does the same with Bella's ears. She does so very gingerly, and with deep care. This may be gross to humans, but Freckles does it so sweetly that you (almost) forget.The thing is, Freckles is like this with everyone. Her one desire in life is to be close to us. She spends her whole day trying to snuggle with anyone and everyone around her. When she gets the chance, she looks up at you with her big, green eyes and licks your face sweetly and slowly. She just wants to be near you and love on you. That's her only goal.
And this goal does not cease when Bella and Molly are mean to her. She stays sweet. She may be a little more cautious, but she still loves.
Learning to Love Unconditionally
When I think about those personality traits, I realize that my dog is much better at loving people than I am. She doesn't care what they look like, smell like, how they act, or whether or not they are annoying...she just loves them. She doesn't hold back love based on superficial things, and she makes sure you know that she loves you.
God calls us to love one another. We don't have to be alike or agree on everything, and it doesn't matter whether or not a person gets on your nerves. God still calls us to love on people. Be polite, be nice, be considerate, eliminate pride, give sincere compliments and encouragement, and let people know that they are cared about and that you are there for them. Do not discriminate, do not hate, seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:14). It is not our job to decide if someone deserves love or not. Love them regardless.Put Love Into Action
Let people know how much they mean to you, and avoid nit-picking all their flaws. There is a time and place for correcting people, but there is a difference between lovingly trying to help and just being critical.Take a lesson from my spotted, lazy dog: love everyone, no matter what. Jesus loves us, despite our wrong-doing, and we should pour that love out to others.This is what I have learned from my dog :)
*This post was originally posted in February 2015, but I recently decided to revamp and republish them! I hope you are enjoying them!