Here is what I know about understanding someone else – it takes effort. I’m talking about really understanding another, complicated, multi-faceted life. And I’m talking about the kind of effort that we rarely have the energy to put into another human being. One of the things I realized in the counseling program in grad school was that to be a good counselor you had to work diligently to understand the person you were counseling. You had to hear things that were not being said and discern things they did not know they were dealing with. It takes real work. Although we are not all counselors, we all have a family, and we could potentially build it or destroy it. But God’s desire is that we invest whatever degree of ourselves necessary to try and wisely build it to honor Him. It takes effort, but a house of love and peace is worth the effort. Today, pray and then invest all of yourself in those close to you and watch God’s spirit work. And be patient; “home” wasn’t built in a day.
