Has your love for another person ever changed how you appreciate things? This often happens with music. A man doesn't like classical or country music, but then he falls in love with a girl who does appreciate that kind. Suddenly his love for her causes him to give it another chance, to listen to it from her perspective, to appreciate it from her background. The man finds himself loving this music because he loves her and these things are connected now. Through this method, people have developed new appreciations for food, car brands, cultures, even politics.
Today's verse almost sounds like a logical fallacy. Immediately after saying the first commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, we are then told to love our neighbor. But if we're already directing all our love to God, where does this love for our neighbor come from?
The answer is: it's just like the music! Our love for God becomes love for the things He loves, and He loves your neighbor. (Not just your next door neighbor; remember the good Samaritan parable.) The more our love for God grows, and the more we learn about the things He loves, the more our hearts are transformed into little versions of His, loving what He loves.
Where we often fail at this is when we (accidentally or intentionally) forget that God loves everybody. Like, everybody! We look at good and kind people and say, "Well, God must certainly love them! They're so lovely!" But God also loves jerks, bullies, bigots, racists, criminals, liars, cheaters, line-cutters, and people who microwave fish in the office microwave. "And such were some of you..." (1 Cor 6:11) God wants all those people to be washed and forgiven, filled with His Spirit, and transformed into the likeness of His son.
The next time you're in a crowd, or driving in traffic, practice looking at the people around you and imagine Jesus embracing them and kissing them with holy kisses. (You can imagine Him embracing you, too, if you need to be reminded!) Look at those people through God's eyes and feel your heart begin to turn the same way. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem... How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings..." (Matt 23:37)