I’ve been thinking a great deal about a trend that I have heard a lot lately: seems that people are simplifying their lives so much these days that they are kicking ‘difficult’ friends to the curb. To quote a blog I recently read: ‘this past year has been a bumpy year as it pertains to relationships. I have learned to let go of people who bring me down and have been able to finally embrace and invest in true authentic relationships…with people who really know me…and love me…’. That’s great, but then what about those people who you deem inauthentic? What happens to them, who steps in to love them?
What if the bible said for us to love people who were easy to love; only those who we receive equal amounts of love and affirmation from in return? I think a lot of people would be left out. I think we’d never learn and grow from our relationships, and I think we wouldn’t make an effort to show people that they matter, that they are important.
At first, when I’ve heard people speak of this idea of making their lives easier by eliminating difficult people from their life, I thought ‘yea, I get that, makes sense…’ But I just can’t shake the way it niggles at me. And I can’t help but think how ‘difficult’ we, as humans have been for God. And it didn’t take long…just the Garden of Eden. Who do we think we are? We have a loving father, God who expects nothing of us in return. And we think we can pick and choose which of his creation to love. Doesn’t He call us to simply ‘love one another’?
Our lives have sped up and become full and busy, but I’m sure there’s something else we can pick to eliminate to make more time for the people in this world…
