I have been thinking a lot lately about how I relate to other people. I want to be a person who loves. A person who sees people simply as people... other human beings. It seems to often, especially in the church, that we are taught how to set ourselves apart from the world, but why are we never taught to be people who get knee-deep in the concerns of those hurting people that Jesus came to love.

As I walked through my school day today, I realized there are a lot of people who are really annoying and generally stupid and it is easy to fall in the the seat of the judge. It is so easy to sit quietly and laugh at people who seem to carry on less-than-intelegent conversations instead of laughing at thier light-hearted jokes that don't really hurt me. What a depressing lifestyle to be constantly focused on what is wrong with other people. In contrast, there is something openly refreshing about allowing yourself the freedom to love. Letting go of all that stuff and realizing that God has made each and every person with characteristics that are beutiful and that each and every person has an amazing amount of worth.

Judging and hating people is such an accepted form of living, but it is so empty. It makes for a dreadry, non-victorious (i guess that would be losing) way of living, and I don't want it. I was thinking today, it seems like its been a really long time since I had a real conversation with someone; a conversation of real connectedness and without the vail of sin and pain keeping us from really sharing our lives. I want to get back into the habbit of being human with those around me.

I want to be a person who loves. A person consumed with the knowledge of the love her creator has for her and that spills over on to other people.