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 in order to discern things they did not know they were dealing with or did not want to face. It takes real work. Although we are not all counselors, we all have a family, a community, and friends whom we could potentially build or destroy. But God’s desire is that we invest whatever degree of ourselves necessary to try and wisely build them up 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. #BeTheEdge
“The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” Proverbs 20:5 NASB
