The brightest diamond;

Some of my friends call me foolish. They tell me I never learn my lesson. They say I need to be less trusting, less positive, less open, less accepting, less naive.

“People are bad.”
“People will hurt you.”
“You need to be more careful who you trust.”

Well, if learning a lesson and being “wise” means looking at people and not thinking the best of them…well then I want to be foolish the rest of my life. I want to love everyone I meet like I’ve never been hurt or burned in my life. I want to love innocently and wholly. Every. Single. Time. I want to love people the way my Christ does.

Christ knew three of his closest friends and apostles would betray him, deny him and doubt him, but He still chose to invite them to his very last dinner, love them and forgive them. I really want that to be a model for how I treat and love the people around me. Unconditional love, no matter what.

This is what God does…. He gives His best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the- mill sinner does that.

If you are using Bible verses with the intention to shame, bring down, persecute, humiliate or otherwise single out anyone then you are completely misusing the Word of God. It’s message is one of Great Love. How it must break the Lord’s heart to see us using His word as a weapon against each other.

People don’t have to be perfect in order to deserve our love. They don’t have to be faultless or easy to like or get along with. That’s a good thing, because none of us are all those things all the time; none of us are perfect. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but He does expect us to show one another love and understanding. “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

When people live or work closely together, it’s easy to get negative or judgmental about one another, and that doesn’t make things any better, of course. It becomes a vicious cycle of judging and criticizing and measuring that undermines friendships and working relationships.

But we don’t have to fall prey to that. There is an alternative, a strengthening cycle in which we love each other through our bad days, forgive one another’s mistakes, compensate for one another’s weak areas, and bring out one another’s strengths. Love begets love. It inspires others to give their best, it wins God’s blessing, and it makes us happy.