The following fits with what i have said and quoted about love and affection before. The excerpt is taken from the July 4, 2008 (written by Rev. Peter Hoytema) reading of the Back to God Ministries International's Today booklet:
"Loving the lovable is easy. But how can we show real love to someone who mistreats us or is difficult to get along with?
Perhaps Samuel Johnson's insight on the difference between kindness and fondness can help. He once said, "kindness is within our power; fondness is not." That was his way of saying that we all have it in us to be kind to people, even if we are not fond of them. We don't have to wait until we like people before we can be kind to them.
When we discover the truth in that bit of wisdom, we are often surprised by another discovery: kindness can lead to fondness. ...As C. S. Lewis once pointed out, we shouldn't waste time worrying about whether we love our neighbors or not. We should simply act as if we did."
The original (longer version) can be seen at http://www.btgh.net/today.php. You need to click on 4 July on the calendar at the right side of the page.
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