What kind of help do people need the most? For instance, If you know someone that is really unattractive, what might be the best way to help them? Tell them that they need plastic surgery? Point out their flaws? How about loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?
If you know someone that is unhappy, what might be the best way to help them? How about telling them how stupid it is to be unhappy? Try to convince them that being happy is better? Or how about just loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?
If you know someone that is judgmental, what might be the best way to help them? Pointing out the error of their ways? Judging them for being judgmental? Or how about just loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?
What if a person is negative/pessimistic? What might be the best way to help them? Shoot them and put them out of their misery? Call them names? Insult them? Or how about just loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?
In my examples above, I mentioned both physical and behavioral issues. Some might think that they are very different things, but I don’t think so in the context of this writing. If a person is physically challenged, indeed, they did not choose that. On the other hand, if a person was born into a family that exhibited negative behaviors, they would likely inherit those traits as well, and again, neither did they choose that. The behavioral traits of a person may even be more insidious in that they may be completely unaware that they even exhibit those traits. It’s who they are….not who they are trying to be. Therefore, when someone attempts to correct that behavior, they are, in essence, insulting the very person exhibiting the behavior. Make sense?
I’m of the belief that love cures all, and the lack of love is at the root of most human psychological issues. It seems to me that criticism (accurate or not) only makes matters worse and is fodder for the devil. Criticism does nothing to build a person up and that is what we are called to do (Eph 4:29).
As we all know, love in word only, is hypocritical and useless. My Christian Interpretation would be that true love is loving in actions and in truth (1 John 3:18), and a person that is truly loved will find healing without even looking for it. It takes time, though. In many ways, we are the sum of our experiences, and I’m certain that virtually every one of us could use and benefit from a heaping helping of love and acceptance.
