Just People part 4
I think people are one of the two most important things on the planet. The other one is God, or love. But I don't want to put people on a pedestal, because high and lofty expectations result in swift and and painful falls. So what I'm saying is, even though there's nothing more important than God and people--loving God and loving people, loving God BY loving people--we're all JUST people. We're all in this together, going through the same stuff. Struggling with the same things. 1 Corinthians 10:13 in the NLT says it like this, "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." And I think we go through those same things for one of two reasons: 1. To learn from them. 2. To help others through them. Because I think God works through people. So if He shows us a way out, it's usually someone who has been there, done that, and got the t-shirt holding out a hand and saying, "This way." There's safety in the multitude of counsel, right? Someone with experience witnessing about what they've seen, and heard. But what's it's NOT is judging people and condemning them. I truly believe the only reason we should ever look down on anybody is to reach down and help them up. Not to kick them while they're down, or step over them with a sneer. Because when you really think about it, you may not have been EXACTLY where they're at... but you probably weren't too far away when you hit your own personal rock bottom. And we all hit rock bottom, from time to time. We're all trying to do the best we can with what we have. But what we have is so much more powerful when we share it! When we bear one another's burdens we can all carry a whole lot more. And when we understand that Jesus did ALL of the heavy lifting over 2,000 years ago on the cross then we can start to share not just the "bad" but the "good." We can stop eating from the tree of death altoghether, and we can let Jesus abide in our house! WE ARE the house! "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). So instead of worrying so much about all of the external stuff--and trying to avoid what is really the human experience--we can live from the inside-out. We can let what (WHO) is inside us fill us to overflowing and come out naturally! We can love each other without condemnation or judgment because we're all part of the same body. Because we're all in this together. We all go through the same stuff, so we might as well help each other get through it. Nobody hates his own body, so we have no excuse for hating each other. We have no excuse for jealousy, and strife, and all of the walls that we put up to separate each other. We can bear it. And when we bear it together, it's much easier to endure. Life is better with loved ones. And we're all just people, so we can ALL be loved ones!