Makes sense, I guess. I can't think of a counter-example.

Its true, it is also a hard time for us to love, but we need to anyway.

I take it to mean that it is someone that has been hardened in their life from some really bad breaks and they carry a really big chip on their shoulder and will push you away if you try to get close to them. They are not friendly and hardly ever smile....very anti-social. It is hard to break down their defenses but they do need someone to keep trying because deep down everyone wants to be loved.

I believe that's true. Unfortunately it is when it's the hardest to do.

It is soooo true! I love a song by Our Lady Peace on the subject... it's called "are you sad?". It's very mellow and represents well this idea that you need a lot of love when you push people back the most. :) good thought :)

Clever wording but only tells part of the story. People who are hardest to love have often brought it on themselves by their actions and attitudes. This is seldom resolved by other people trying ever harder to reach out to them; if they have a need, they need to acknowledge and accept it or they won't be able to benefit from the love that other people will be trying to give them. Think of it this way - when someone is literally starving to death, they need food the most, but by that stage they have lost their appetite and other internal indicators that would stimulate them to help themselves. Putting more and more food in front of them will not encourage them to eat and won't stop the starvation process.

"Loved the hardest..." makes me think of tough love. Sometimes tough love is necessary when someone is hard to love. This means not enabling the behavior that makes the person hard to love, but making sure they know you are willing and ready to love them when they demonstrate that they want it.

It's easy to love people who are lovable...easy-to-get-along with, positive, successful...they like themselves and others...it's a lot harder to love them when everything seems to be going wrong and they lash out at you...so I would say "yes"..that's when they need you the most. :)

I think that can be especially true with teenagers. sometimes they are going through rough times and acting different and that is when they need someone who is caring and nice the most. -The secretary to the assistant principle at the highschool iwent to, had that sign up next to her desk(it said almost exactly the quote you put in your question). And you could tell that she felt that way..it showed in how she approached kids and had a way with them. She was also tough in a very kind way w/ the kids who were acting out ,and ske knew that tough love,was a great thing when they are making things difficult(hard to love). ~I think its good for parents to understands that a lot of the time kids act different or act out in negative ways, or cause trouble, it is because they have a lot going on that is causing them pain (and treat you different because of it). If adults understand this it will help them to gain the perspective that in times like that the child especially need to be loved/to have you show them that you love them/or just be there for them helping them remember they are loved. It will be very helpful in its own way for the teenager, even if the teenager acts like it is not helpful..you are helping them by giving them extra love. To love is the most important thing to do.

To a certain extent..

That can be true. The most distant people are often those who have never been taught to love. You need to model it for them, and bomb them with good examples of unselfish love.

Maybe they may need it, but I don't think it works that way. Loveable people get loved. People who give love, get love.

Oh, I'm sure that it's true. But often those people will not be affected by the love of one person. When people are the hardest to love, it is often the case that only God can really show them the love that they need. It's our job to allow Him to show His love through us, of course, and we should do the best that we can, but we are, after all, only human. It was my experience when working at a treatment center for troubled adolescents that people who are hardest to love are often that way because they think nobody ever will love htem. There are few better defense mechanisms for rejection than rejecting others before they can reject you. This leads to a very unpleasant personality, but often it is the only refuge that a hurting person sees available. I think it's our job to show them that they are wrong.