Part 5, Chapter 6
*sandpaper*
Have we ever met a person who just gets under our skin? It seems that whatever they do is not right and anything that we do, they don’t think is right. This person seems to be very annoying. We don’t like to see them and we try to avoid them. This is hard though when you work with this person, live next to them, or have to spend much time with them because of activities that we are involved in. Loving our neighbor can be difficult. Our neighbor can be the sandpaper that gets us ready for Heaven.
Loving our neighbors can be difficult, but we should work on it. They can be a great gift for us and we should view them as a gift, although I realize that this is easier said than done in some cases. St. Francis De Sales has some good examination questions for us: “Are you quick to speak ill of your neighbors, especially of such as do not love you? Do you act unkindly in any way, directly or indirectly, towards them” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 195)? We need to treat all people with love, and try to see Jesus in them. This can be extremely hard to do, but this is what God is calling us too. Be not afraid because loving your neighbor as Jesus loves us is what has been placed into our hearts.