Ok, so I confess that I used to quite dislike apples. That is, until I moved to Boston and went apple picking! I was really just going along for the ride with some friends, but I figured upon arrival that the actual physical activity of picking would be a fun adventure. I figured I could always make pie. Then it happened....I tasted a real, un-messed-with Empire apple. Oh, my goodness! It tasted like honey!
It was then that I realized how much the processing, fertilizers, and other stuff our store apples go through reduces them to what they were never supposed to be. It's no wonder they don't taste good!
Today, I was pondering how this is true of us as people. Sometimes people don't seem very pleasant, and we just assume they must be bad people. Growing up, we had an older relative who was fairly harsh with us as kids. My mom used to tell me sometimes, "I wish you had known her when she was younger. You would have liked her a lot!" It made me sad to think how the pains of life had so distorted who she really was.
I want to encourage you to look at yourself and others with new eyes. Instead of being like me and saying, "I don't like apples," simply renew your thinking by remembering that ALL people are made in God's image. This means that the core of who we are is good. Life's garbage may have caused distortions, but bad attitudes, impatience, etc. will never be who we actually are. More importantly, no pain is beyond repair! God can completely restore a person from the inside out, and you can play a part! Your love and willingness to see beyond a person's walls could be the very thing they need to return to who they really are!
Let it be worth your time to love and never give up. Love may not seem like much, especially if the person rejects your efforts. But I guarantee that it'll be worth it in the long run. The Bible is true, and it says that Love never fails.
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