What makes a person “bad”? The perception of the “outside” world may “look” like that person is not “acceptable” by today’s society and our personal measuring stick.
However, I would like to say that their “actions”, decisions, habits and learned way to respond to things does not mean “they” are bad. The choices might not be the best, but the person themselves may have a heart of gold, a great work ethic when given a chance to explore their talents, a genuine awesome individual underneath all of their insecurities, fears, scars from the past, etc. that manifest to the outside world in a completely different way than who that “little precious scared child” is that lives deep down within each of us. The one that often no one sees but God, who does love and care about us / them as much as He does the most well-respected person we see as all “good”.
We judge and put down the individual putting a needle in their arm or snorting cocaine, however, the diabetic who is chowing down on a big old piece of cake or the one with heart failure that is eating some more fried chicken and hasn’t walked or exercised in days – they are just struggling or accepted because that’s “legal” to harm your body with sugar and fried foods.
Am I making this too simple and excusing any of them?
No, I have compassion for all of God’s children and know that underneath that 3rd cup of coffee, the cookie, the heroin or cigarette, is an individual that is struggling with their own issues. They have doubts about their abilities and if they are “good” enough for anyone to love them. They are lost, in their own way, which only God can see, as often we don’t even know or understand why we do some of the things we choose to do.
The bottom line for me is to begin to be kind and gentle to myself. Learning to understand that God does love and care about me and that I matter to him, along with the fact that He cares about all the things that matter to me. When I can begin to receive His love and acceptance for me, I can start to give myself love and acceptance.
This is so very powerful – not necessarily easy – but definitely worth the shift from fear and being negative about myself and the world to looking at all the good and positive around me as I see God’s hand in my life. When I can grasp that He watches over my loved ones and myself with the love of a good father and wants the best for us in the way we want the best for our children, a shift will begin to come both inside our being and in our world.
Then we can now turn to see others with kindness and love. Stopping long enough to “see” them as a scared little child that just wants and needs someone to care about them and what they are going through. None of us like to feel judged, however, we’re really good at judging ourselves harshly, along with the people around us who are not “performing” the way we think they should or want them to.
My prayers are that each one of us will choose to stop and touch someone’s life in a very positive and loving way – and do the same thing for ourselves as a way of life.
Many blessings and may you feel God’s love around you today in a special way
