Why is it that the hardest people to love are your family?
In "My Monastery is a Minivan" Denis Roy has a chapter titled "I'm not nice anymore". Why is it that when I get into close proximity to the people that are the most important to me I act as though they are the least important?
Here's a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 for family situations:
I will show that I love my (parent, spouse, child) by not giving up, and by looking for ways to make her/his life easier. I will not belittle her/his joys, I will not insist on talking about my business. I will say "please" and "thank you." I won't insist on my own way. I will not act immediately on my anger. I will not bring up past ways s/he's hurt me or ways s/he's messed up. I'll try to be glad when good things happen to her/him and try to understand the things that cause her/him pain. I will not be a source of hurt, but give the benefit of the doubt and look past the current situation to the person that God is making her/him to be. It's hard, but with God's help I'll keep trying.
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