Last week, I was on my old college campus four days in a row for different activities. I realized while I was there that it isn't always a comfortable place for me. There's a lot of people that I know and love, people that I know but haven't really talked to in 6 or 8 months, and then a ton of people who I don't even recognize. Especially when there are large groups of them all together, I start to shut down - I don't know who I should talk to, what to say, and whether or not they even remember who I am or want to talk to me.
But I was reminded that I am always blessed when someone unexpected goes out of their way to say hello to me. When someone asks me how I am, my response is never an angry one. I always feel cared for and loved. But so often my default when I go back on campus is to only talk to the people who reach out to me first - they are are safe.
But how selfish of me! That really shows my lack of true love for my dear friends at school. Rather than living in fear of rejection (fear of man), I ought to be so concerned with glorifying the Lord in my interactions with others that my default is to always ask how I can demonstrate love towards them.
It's interesting because this topic came up in Bible study as we were discussing how to live out Hebrews 3 in exhorting one another daily as long as it is called today. Turns out a lot of us struggle to reach out to other first, to pursue them regardless of whether they have talked to us.
But if our hearts are truly content and sure in Jesus in the way they ought to be because of the gospel, it really shouldn't matter to us how we are being treated; we are simply called to love, encourage and speak truth to our brothers and sisters.
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