Sometimes I get the impression from society and from others that acting in love and serving others well is the wrong thing to do. “Kieara you are too nice. Kieara you are too kind. Kieara you give too much. Kieara you are naïve.” All of these things have been told to me plenty of times. Even though these comments can be annoying, they really just roll off of my shoulders now. Sometimes I choose to engage in conversation around it. Other times I just let it go and ignore the comment because if I chose to explain, they wouldn’t get it anyway.
I totally understand why people would tell me to be cautious. There are many people in this world who are not well-meaning, and they will try to get over on me. There are people who only take and never give in return. There are people who do not have my best interest at heart. While I know this to be true, I cannot change who I am because of who they are.
Have people taken advantage of me, I’m sure they have, but at the end of the day, that has nothing to do with me. That’s a battle God will fight for me. I can only control my circle of influence. And I would rather bring love and light to this world, than add to the gloom and hate.
Vulnerability can be rare! People are so afraid of being the first person to speak up, or the first person to show interest. People feel like they have to get revenge if someone does them wrong. People generalize after their expectations are not met after serving someone. And if someone doesn’t say thank you after being served, people vow to never do a nice thing again. I’m not saying these things don’t hurt. They do. But my response is to love, give and serve anyway!
The real truth is that you will most likely give and serve sometimes and not receive a “thank you” back. You will meet people who only want to take and do not know how to love you well. You will love and serve some people and they will hurt you unintentionally or maybe even intentionally. Even though this is the case, I would recommend to still keep a softened heart. Be smart about it and realize your part in the interaction, but also know that your love and service is needed in the world.
If we start to put all of the conditions on love, is it actually even love in the first place? If we start to put conditions on serving, what are our true motives?
Loving and serving well also applies to loving and serving ourselves. So I am not saying be a doormat, and I am also not saying to keep putting yourself in unsafe situations. What I am saying is that when you are in healthy relationship with others, love them well and be of good service. You can never go wrong there!
Love y’all!
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