"We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." - 1 John 4:19-21
The other day, I was in the passenger seat of our car running errands with my mom. We were at the stoplight on Airport and G.E. going west, and I happened to look out my window. In the car next to me was a teenage girl and her mom. They were both upset. I tried not to look, but I couldn't help it. The girl was close to my age, maybe 15 to 18 years old. She was crying. Hard. The mom was more angry than upset. She rolled her eyes and shook her head a lot. The girl was a gorgeous blonde; I bet she could pull off a fake smile really well, and no one would ever know. She tried to wipe her tears on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. It was raining.
I wanted to go over to her and hug her; let her know that I love her, even though I don't know her. Her mother said something that really hurt her, I could read her lips as she said, "I know, okay?" I thought of all the times in my life I'd said the exact same thing. How many times my own mother or someone else I cared about had said something blatant and hurtful to me where the only answer I could muster was, "I know." There is so much meaning in those little words.
I didn't know what the fight was about, I didn't even know if it was a fight at all. It sure looked like one. Perhaps she had gotten caught drinking. Maybe her grandfather died, or her boyfriend broke up with her. She could have gotten pregnant. She could have gotten raped. Dozens of possibilities popped into my head. Maybe her friend had cancer. Maybe her parents were getting divorced. The amazing thing was that it didn't matter. It didn't matter what happened; what mattered was that she was upset. She was hurting. Deeply. The source of the pain could have seemed small or large depending on who was looking at it, but that didn't change the fact that she was hurting. She felt pain and it was real.
How many times a day do we see someone without even thinking about what could be going on in his or her life? How many times do we walk right past someone without realizing that that person is a child of God? Do we even realize when people are quieter than usual? Do we connect people's actions with their emotions? Sure, we're busy, but no one is too busy to notice when someone else is hurting. People are hurting everywhere every day. We don't see when people are upset because we don't want to; if we're honest without ourselves, we don't really care. We think, "Oh, he's fine." or, "She just wants attention." How do we know? He could be suicidal, and she could be abused. We don't know because we don't try to find out, and we don't try to find out because we don't really care. We're so self-absorbed that we don't even consider other people's problems.
People are reaching out for help and love all the time, even, if not especially, the ones who reject it. People may seem like they don't want to talk or want help, but a lot of the time, they really just want to know that someone cares. It's not hard to show someone that you care, really. It doesn't take a lot, so why don't we love people the way that we should? People will try to hide their pain, but what they need is someone to love them. What if you were that person who's hurting? Wouldn't you want someone to help and love you? Many times we forget that people are all children of God and are longing to belong. We forget that the pain is real. We ignore it. Ignoring it doesn't make it go away, it makes it worse.
I could throw all kinds of statistics at you, like every 1 in 4 people has been abused, or 60% of people polled have admitted to trying to kill themselves at one time, but would they really do any good? People aren't statistics. People are real, and so is the pain they feel. You don't know what a person has gone through, or what they're going through right now, and the fact of the matter is that you might never know. You'll never know because most of the time you don't care. People are crying out for deliverance and love. How long will we ignore them?
"Be kinder than necessary for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." -Unknown
~So
I wanted to go over to her and hug her; let her know that I love her, even though I don't know her. Her mother said something that really hurt her, I could read her lips as she said, "I know, okay?" I thought of all the times in my life I'd said the exact same thing. How many times my own mother or someone else I cared about had said something blatant and hurtful to me where the only answer I could muster was, "I know." There is so much meaning in those little words.
I didn't know what the fight was about, I didn't even know if it was a fight at all. It sure looked like one. Perhaps she had gotten caught drinking. Maybe her grandfather died, or her boyfriend broke up with her. She could have gotten pregnant. She could have gotten raped. Dozens of possibilities popped into my head. Maybe her friend had cancer. Maybe her parents were getting divorced. The amazing thing was that it didn't matter. It didn't matter what happened; what mattered was that she was upset. She was hurting. Deeply. The source of the pain could have seemed small or large depending on who was looking at it, but that didn't change the fact that she was hurting. She felt pain and it was real.
How many times a day do we see someone without even thinking about what could be going on in his or her life? How many times do we walk right past someone without realizing that that person is a child of God? Do we even realize when people are quieter than usual? Do we connect people's actions with their emotions? Sure, we're busy, but no one is too busy to notice when someone else is hurting. People are hurting everywhere every day. We don't see when people are upset because we don't want to; if we're honest without ourselves, we don't really care. We think, "Oh, he's fine." or, "She just wants attention." How do we know? He could be suicidal, and she could be abused. We don't know because we don't try to find out, and we don't try to find out because we don't really care. We're so self-absorbed that we don't even consider other people's problems.
People are reaching out for help and love all the time, even, if not especially, the ones who reject it. People may seem like they don't want to talk or want help, but a lot of the time, they really just want to know that someone cares. It's not hard to show someone that you care, really. It doesn't take a lot, so why don't we love people the way that we should? People will try to hide their pain, but what they need is someone to love them. What if you were that person who's hurting? Wouldn't you want someone to help and love you? Many times we forget that people are all children of God and are longing to belong. We forget that the pain is real. We ignore it. Ignoring it doesn't make it go away, it makes it worse.
I could throw all kinds of statistics at you, like every 1 in 4 people has been abused, or 60% of people polled have admitted to trying to kill themselves at one time, but would they really do any good? People aren't statistics. People are real, and so is the pain they feel. You don't know what a person has gone through, or what they're going through right now, and the fact of the matter is that you might never know. You'll never know because most of the time you don't care. People are crying out for deliverance and love. How long will we ignore them?
"Be kinder than necessary for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." -Unknown
~So
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