You Only Know Who You Really Know

If we think we really KNOW a person based only on what we see on social media, or whether or not people interact with us on social media, we probably find ourselves pretty disappointed a lot, invisible, assuming people no longer like us, and believing we have no real friends at all. When we assume someone is no longer our friend based on what we perceive on a screen, there is a person on the other side of the screen probably feeling the same way. We cannot be all things to all people, but everyday we store up expectations that people can never live up to, all because we choose to believe the worst case scenario over the best case. I’ve seen people who identify themselves as followers of Christ be the absolute worst at this. A Family that ought to be so for each other that it has the makings of a cheesy Hallmark movie, we are doing a much better job at being against one another. The secret ingredient to any relationship is always LOVE. Would we, if we genuinely love our brother/sister, spread gossip, lie about, believe the worst about, accuse falsely, turn our nose up at, the one we are supposed to love because we’re all part of the same Family?

Want to really know someone? Spend time with them. Not through a screen, but actually sharing life with them. I’ve lived a lot of life not measuring up to the expectations of others. “You don’t call. You don’t write. You don’t visit. You don’t come to everything. You didn’t speak to me. You didn’t like my status…” and on and on. And, I’ve held others under the same expectations, but life is shorter and shorter by the day, and the truth is I will never measure up to how others think I should be, and others will not measure up to what I think either, but living there is lonely. No one shows up to that party. I’m going to the party where there is something that I CAN do, and that is “at least try”. I can try to be the friend I want to have. I can try to love well every chance I get. I can try to speak life in every opportunity. I can do that, not through a screen, but making moments when moments are right in front of me.

I’ve wondered from time to time why friendships on the screen stay there and are no longer friendships I would see in my real life. People come and go even if their names are lit up on my phone/computer screen, but the conversations and real life have ceased. Seasons change, circles become smaller, but valuing people based on what we think we know from a social media post cheapens the season which might bring them right back into our lives. Want to know a person? All you have to do is try.

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