Character

One of the things that I have learned this semester is that everyone is keeping a secret. Now wait, it is not a personal thing against you. It is usually not even a secret like the one that your girlfriend will tell you and then make you promise not to tell anyone. They can simply be considered one’s “hidden thoughts”, things they are not public about, something they are not openly expressive about. It may not be something they are not willing to share. It just may be something they are not going to volunteer to be transparent about automatically. It is a part of their inner self. And many people are yearning for someone to take the time to recognize this unknown, someone to simply take the time to hear their heart, to hear the whispers of their secret.
I have been praying about this area specifically that God would enhance my empathy for others, that I would be more discerning to people’s deeper feelings......that I would not just see the outer crust. As I live on this Christian University’s campus, I would not expect for there to be so many hurting souls, so many broken pasts, so many people with a secret that is eating them from the inside out. But this past semester and a half, I have been privileged to hear people’s stories which had been hidden. They deserved to be expressed, to be heard. There is so much healing in releasing what has been kept hidden.
People’s outer self, their crust, can be so deceiving. We probably have all experienced the surprise of finding out that your initial idea of someone was completely wrong after you have gotten to know them well. I think that this proves that what is on the inside is not always reflected on the outside. Basically, what I am spitting out thoughts about is how we should not judge, have preconceived thoughts about, or assume things about people. They usually have a story, a secret. Take the time to listen to their heart, how their character has been shaped.