I come from a long line of dog-lovers. Both of my folks grew up with dogs and told stories of how difficult it was to eventually say goodbye. Dad liked the trustworthiness of dogs, and Mom saw them as good examples of unconditional love. (She returned the favor by keeping Milk Bones in her purse.)

Our childhood dog, Toby, lived 16 pampered years with us, but cancer eventually took over. One day while we were all away at college, Mom and Aunt Agnes made the excruciating decision to have Toby put to sleep. It was the kind thing to do, since he was in constant pain. But the minute Mom got home she changed her mind and called the vet. “Don’t do it! I’m coming to get him!”

The vet was one step ahead of her, though. “You’re not the first one to call me back,” he said. “Your Toby is already gone.”

As hard as that was, Mom knew he’d done her a favor. Making that decision once was hard enough. Twice would have been impossible.

She wasn’t dog-lonely for long, however. Through the years, her doggie-desires were abundantly satisfied with lots of grand-dogs, since she and Dad raised a family of dog-lovers, too.

(Montego, Pepper, Gunnar, Wrigley, Sydney, Wilbur, Jack, Strider, Blue)

I think God is pleased when we love the creatures he’s made. That includes dogs, cats, gerbils, canaries, and every other animal people give a name to and care for as family members. Appreciating animals is to appreciate the One who originally gave them to us.

And if that’s true, then valuing the pinnacle of his creation (people) is even more important, more dear to him. We might say, “But animals are easy to love, because they always love you back. People can be downright unlovable. God doesn’t expect us to love that kind.”

Then we read the Bible:“This is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:11) God’s instruction has always been (and always will be) to love each other and act accordingly. He doesn’t say, “I know it’s hard to love those who make your life miserable, so just love the ones you ‘click’ with.”

Why do we have to love everybody? He gives a two-part answer: (1) “Love them because I love them,” (John 3:16) and (2) “Love the not-so-good-ones because I love you.” (Romans 5:8)

And there’s one more reason. Scripture tells us no one can see God and live afterwards, but if we consistently show love to others, especially to the unlovables, people will see God-in-us, which is exactly the reason he wants us to do it.

So when we’re ready to try loving unconditionally, we know where to go for our first lesson: to our doggie friends, because they model it really well.

“If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:11-12)