Give Me Your Eyes.

A while ago, this video was circulating on Facebook:

I watched it, and I sobbed, because frankly, it's really stinkin' beautiful.

But the more I thought about it, the more beautiful it became.

How often are we blind to our own goodness and positive qualities? How common is it for us to focus on the mistakes we made, and become unable to see anything else besides the bad? What about your loved ones? Just because we can't see them doesn't mean they're not there: they are.

As I watched this video, I couldn't help but think that we are all called to be like Mr. Ramsay is in this video: to love, to encourage, to give hope, to affirm.

Even people it's really, really, reeeeeeeeaaaaaaalllllllyyyyyyy hard to be kind to them.

There are several people in my life who I have the most difficult time being kind to. Everything always just seems to rub me the wrong way, and I'm short and impatient with them.

But... God calls me to love them. Because even though they are annoying as all heck, they are still beloved, irreplaceable children of God.

Lord, give me your eyes. Help me to be able to love like you love, with my entire heart, and by seeing goodness.

Instaloved

I love Instagram. I love making my pictures look pretty, and square, and using filters on pictures that need no filter. I love seeming hipster and artistic. I love sharing my life with my followers, most of which are my beloved family and friends.. But most of all, I love getting likes.

I love seeing those little hearts pop up at the bottom of my page, and once I post something, I wait at least five minutes to see who's going to like it first, and make sure it's a steady stream of likes. I love that people notice what I post and take the time to double tap. I know which of my posts has the most likes, and figured out what type of pictures will get the attention I so crave. I want to beat my "record of most likes on a picture". When I'm with a friend and they're on Instagram, I'm so offended if they don't like my picture. Why?

We live in a world where declarations of love, or even friendship, are rare, practically non-existent. For me, a like on my Instagram photo is a declaration of appreciation, of love. But in the long run, it's not really love. Love takes action, and two taps isn't action.

If you love someone, don't just like their photo. I mean, sure, go ahead if you want, but tell them, to their face, about how much they mean to you. What if Jesus simply said, "Yeah, I love you" but did nothing about it? We'd literally never be saved. Fun fact. One act of love can literally save humanity. And love is reduced to tapping your thumb twice on Jackie's black and white selfie captioned with a tear-jerking, inspirational quote?

Love and friendship are more than liking statuses or pictures, or even commenting. It's telling them why you love them, those little quirks and personality traits that people don't notice.

Humanity deserves a crucifixion type love, not an Instagram love.

Reach out. Love. Really love. Love like Jesus.