Whenever a person goes through something like what I am they hear stories. Many people tell you about their friend or family member who had a similar problem. Most of the time these stories convince me that my problems are very small compared to others. Everyone has trials. Everyone’s life is filled with adversity. No one makes it through life without many, many challenges. Some of those challenges are obvious—health challenges, accidents, disasters. But most of the time we experience private challenges that no one sees and so no one talks about them. Often we have no idea of the burden others carry around.This has made me realize that we should approach everyone as if they are in some way hurting. In that way we can minister love, concern, and hope to others. We are more ready to forgive and refuse to take offense because we attribute what they say or do to the fact that they are hurting. If by some slim chance they aren’t hurting, they can still benefit from a little love, concern, and hope and we benefit from being compassionate!
Realizing that everyone has some challenge to bear even if we can’t see it also makes us less self-centered. This journey of life is filled with pain for everyone, but helping each other through the pain is one sure way to make our own pain more bearable.
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