Acceptance: Loving Others Like God Does

We all have a problem loving people who are less than nice or don't fit a certain standard of morals that we adhere to, especially if they're not a relative. It's often easy to love people who are super nice and overly helpful. But the question is: how do we love and accept the people who are almost impossible to love in the same way God loves and accepts them?

First of all, you should never judge anyone regardless of the amount of time you've known that person or how well you think you know someone. Only God can judge people and only God knows someone for who they truly are. It doesn't matter how rude, offensive, superficial, or "fill in the blank" that person is. God knows everyone better than they know themselves. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." -Romans 3:23-24 NIV.

Accepting someone as they are despite how rough their past is or how horribly they've treated you and others is easier said than done. I've found something that works for me after a bit of practice is praying for someone who hurt you or pissed you off instead of cursing them. At first, it wasn't easy and it was hard to remember to do but it has gotten better with time.

The Holy Spirit has also told me to think of every person like God's child, which we all are, and how I would want my child to be treated in any given situation. Would I want my child to be treated with respect in every situation or would I want them ridiculed for their actions or mistakes? That has really made a lot of things people have done to me or towards me a whole lot easier to swallow without responding back in a hostile or angry manner. "Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other's faults because of your love." -Ephesians 8:2 NLT. I'm not saying that all behavior is excuseable but when looking from a perspective of Christ-like compassion, it is easier to maintain control of my emotions and not let what other people do rub me the wrong way.

There are laws of God that we have to abide by and laws of man too. People should pay for violating those actions by the proper means of jail or prison as well as God getting vengeance for those who wrong his children. God never wants you to take revenge into your own hands. "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." -Romans 12: 19 NKJV. The best thing you can do to someone who has wronged you is to forgive them, accept them as a lost soul who has been led astray, and leave the rest to God.

Accepting someone the same way you accept your family is not by any means easy. It takes time, patience, practice, and a relationship with God to get really good at accepting His children as they are without trying to change them. Because at the end of the day, only God can change someone and it is our job to accept everyone where they are, as they are.