Holding Others As We Are Held

Babies are born with a preciousness that is beyond explanation.  The term precious means “honorable” and “of great worth not to be wasted or treated carelessly”.  We hold every newborn with a sense of preciousness.  Even in holding them, we are extra cautious..  They are innocent from the sins of the world and bring a sense of great worth when they come into being.

Then we grow up.  As a toddler we commit sins in a selfish nature when we don’t want to share a certain doll or toy truck.  Simple, but nonetheless, a selfish sin.  As we grow older we may commit other, greater sins.  Maybe as a teenager it is lying or stealing.  Maybe as an adult it is as simple as not being faithful with our finances to not being faithful to our spouse.  Sins can be great and sins can be small.  All in all, they are all sins.  

With the sins of the world, we begin to lose that preciousness in which we view someone.  We begin to protect ourselves from being hurt by judging people based on the severity of the sins they have committed.  It’s natural and we ALL do it.  YOU are not immune to it and the greatest Christian isn’t immune to it.

I was reminded today that we are all precious in his sight (Isaiah 43:3)  Based on an interaction with someone I was reminded to hold them in a precious light even when they’re struggling.  When someone is struggling, they tend to have rough edges.  It’s “almost” second nature to push those rough edges away and not hold them close.  Sadly enough, I had to look up the verse to be able to quote it.  I’m still a learning Christian and have a LONG way to go.

Do you know what though…..that was God speaking to me!  Have you ever reached and reached for God to speak an answer to you only to feel like you are being ignored?  Listen!  He is speaking.  I promise.

Back to the preciousness.  What if we continued to love like Christ loves us?  What would that look like for you?  What would some of your relationships grow into?  What if we looked beyond the pain and the hurt of our heart and the world and looked at others as honorable beings that are not to be wasted and treated carelessly?  Yes I’ve been hurt and I may not want to let that other person off the hook.  Maybe they don’t deserve it.  Or maybe they do.  Maybe you don’t feel like giving that grace. Because I can bet with 100% certainty that you don’t deserve to be looked at as precious either based on some of your life’s choices.

But, MAYBE, challenges are presented in your life because you are selfishly worrying about how other things make you feel based on what they’ve done to you.  Maybe we need to love like Christ and look beyond those challenges and appreciate the precious human being that they are.  Every person, including you, brings a uniqueness to the world that is needed and wanted by others.  

God spoke to me today.  He laid on my heart that no matter the sins of the world that have been inflicted upon you or that you have inflicted upon others, we have the responsibility to appreciate the “precious” uniqueness that another individual brings into your life even when they are vastly different from your own.  Does that mean you become best friends with the drunk driver who killed your son?  No.  There is a protection in being cautious and guarded.  What it does mean is that even that person is deserving of being precious in our sight.  They struggle and they may make wrong choices.  And even in that, their life is not to be wasted.

It all starts with what your heart is willing to give and to accept.

Today I pray that God speaks to you when you need it most.  My bet is that he is…you just need to listen.