Today the weather outside in Northern Indiana is a balmy 14 degrees. Too cold for me. I am not a cold weather type of guy. I like the temps to be in the upper 70s to lower 80s. Cold winters in Indiana are normal, and I have often asked myself why I stay up here in the cold.I didn’t notice the cold so much when I was younger, but now that I’m in my mid-60s, the weather does affect me more, sometimes in not so good ways.Have you ever met a person who, without even knowing who you are, gives you the cold shoulder or makes a snarky comment?The other day, I was getting into my patrol vehicle parked in a parking lot. There was a shopping cart right next to the driver’s side door. I had to move it to get in the vehicle. Across or at an angle from me was a woman sitting in her car. When I moved the shopping cart away from my door, I moved it over into the space between her front bumper and the front bumper of the other car parked next to mine. Since the patrol vehicle sits in a designated spot, there are no cars that park in front of it.After I moved the cart, I was unlocking the door to get in, and the lady in the car jumped out and asked me why I moved the cart without taking it to the cart bay. My answer was simple: I had to move it to get in, and no, I’m not moving it to a cart bay because my presence was needed near the back of the store due to a problem with a truck driver. She started ranting about people not putting the carts back and just leaving them. Then she threatened me about what would happen if I hit her car with the cart. I just got in the vehicle and headed off to take care of a problem the store was calling me about.Some people are just waiting for anything to provoke you into a conversation you don’t want to have, or they simply look at you and stick their nose in the air or give you a “what’s that look for?”Some people are just plain mean or rude, mostly both. How do we as Christians handle these types of people who are just looking to stir something up?Jesus gave us examples in the New Testament. The Pharisees did not like Jesus. Most of them never met Jesus; they just took the dislike from others. The Pharisees tried to get Jesus to react negatively, and when Jesus showed them love, they hated him more.God wants us to love those people who dislike us for whatever reason. He wants us to show compassion, empathy, sympathy, and kindness to those who would rather hurt us.We have to show Christ’s love to these types of people. It is so very hard to do when you would rather say what is really on your mind or defend yourself against something you never intended or even thought about doing.I know for me, there were a few things I would have liked to say to that woman, but at that moment, my attention was needed elsewhere, and I didn’t have time to worry about where that shopping cart was. Oh, and as I backed out of the parking space, the lady I guess thought she was going to force me to move the cart by putting it in the middle of my parking space. Little did she know, it was going to be a long hour before I could park it there again.We must be tolerant of these types of people. We come across them all the time, and how we handle them is going to be a testament to our character, good or bad.So if someone gives you the cold shoulder or is just looking to get something started, smile and know that God loves them as much as He loves you. The difference is that you know what God’s love is; you’ve experienced it.John 13:34-35 (NIV) 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” May God’s peace always abide with you.