People all over the world, get on board

♬  The O'Jays: LOVE TRAIN

You see, in order for friendship to work and be sincere, it must be available to everyone. Are you willing to go to a place where the severely and profoundly retarded are being embraced? Are you willing to share friendship with those who have been very very unfortunate? The homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes, pimps drug dealers, murderers, child abusers?

Listen to Christ's words: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

And I myself come to you now, confessing. I have failed at being A True Friend many times. And I know that there are others who have failed at many things. Many things they badly wish they had not failed at. And it is sooo easy to sit in judgment. To measure our strengths and successes against other people's weaknesses and helplessness. But this is not what God is calling us to do, at all. He is calling us to leave our door a little open. To consider how unhappy people are who are stuck in ways of living that they see no way out of. I say this, and you know what pops into my mind? There is a girl who I have been completely shunning! She makes me crazy, and I do not know how to deal with her. I want success, and I feel that she can't bear the thought of success for me, so I have stated that I don't want her anywhere around me.

How is she going to get on board the Love Train? How are she and I going to board the same Love Train? Way more challenging than the ice bucket challenge! But this is the friendship challenge, you could say. How are we going to get on board the same Love Train as those people who we totally cannot stand? How are we going to board the same Love Train as those who have hurt us and destroyed us? How are we going to share the Love Train with the severely and profoundly retarded? Those who we can't bear to look at.

We are told that God is LOVE. He loves every one of us. We are all supposed to board the LOVE TRAIN together.