The topic today is pretty personal, but one I would imagine many people deal, even struggle with. It is with that thought process that I would like to share a pretty neat experience I had today.

Let me back up for a moment. As I have been sharing, our church is doing a series that talks about loving recklessly – learning to love as Jesus loved. It conquers the idea of an us vs. them complex. In said scenario, no one is perfect – with the only exception being Jesus. So, with that said, it is His commandment that we love one another.

I’ll be the first to tell you – this is NOT always an easy feat.

I will now fast forward to today, with a brief background. The objective – show God’s love. To everyone. Yes, everyone – even those not easy to love. Check.

If you are anything like me, there are probably a few different “kinds” of people you probably find yourself with disdain, as opposed to love for. Yes? I will be the first to raise my hand. But, thank God, this mindset of mine is changing. Through God working in my heart, I’m learning to see people and situations differently – through His eyes.

Let’s explore this for a second. Love how Jesus loves. How do we know how Jesus loves? It’s simple. He does. Period. He loves people simply because they are people. He has a crazy unconditional love for us. As human beings, will we always be able to love like this? Not highly likely. Should we try? Absolutely, without a doubt.

Okay, so today.

As I was out and about running errands, the individual behind the cash register was some I would have once been very inclined to say something (in my head) like, “it’s another [insert stereotypical, and likely judgmental classification here]– gosh, they’re everywhere!” I’d probably have some other mental thought process going on, and it wouldn’t have been nice. Like I said, God’s working on my heart in this (and many) area(s).

Today, however, was different. I saw this individual and had compassion. I smiled and was friendly. I had that initial “it’s another [PERSON TO LOVE]” thought. I did not see them as a negative member of society. Instead, I saw them as another person to love. I didn’t do anything super spiritual. I didn’t go above and beyond. I just carried on pleasant conversation, and I allowed walls in my own heart to crumble. I was kind to this person (not that I’d ever have been mean) and I did what I could in a short amount of time to just not judge and to show love.

I hope you’ll join me on this mission of loving people recklessly – even those who are hard to love. It isn’t always going to be easy, but it IS always going to be worth it.

That, my friends, is what I am grateful for today. I’m grateful to see these small, yet huge, changes going on inside me.