What is acceptance? Is it weird to love people?

Forever posting strange titles, somewhat in the hopes it might get an ear to listen. (At least I'm honest)

Acceptance. This concept has been going over and over in my mind for a few weeks and I can't shake it. Australia, as a free country, claims to be accepting. Accepting of religion, accepting of gender, accepting of lifestyle. But how exactly do we accept what other people do? Is it classified as acceptance if someones lifestyle choices really bug me, but I keep my mouth shut and smile? Or is that just tolerance? The answer is obvious, it's tolerance.

I hate tolerance.

Yes, it's a very general statement and you're never going to be able to accept everyone so sometimes you need to suck it up and just tolerate them... But what I do hate is the thought that tolerance is good enough. It really isn't. Society most definitely has its issues and as a Christian, sometimes it's assumed that I'm going to instantly not want to be friends with someone just because their lifestyle choices are a bit different to mine. But that's not how it is. Honestly, I just love people. Full stop.  There's no fine print. I just love people.

I'm so tired of it being common practice to slander people and call people names, but it's suddenly "weird" or "soft" to go around genuinely complimenting people and trying to build them up. Seriously, what's with that? Ha, sitting here now I can recall times where friends have told me that I need to stop being such a "flirt" because I was "overcomplimenting" another friend. I'm sorry, but what? How is there such a thing as overcomplementing? The red lines underneath the word as I type tell me that it's not even a true word. (So don't hold back with the compliments, you don't know who might actually really need it.)

So back to the topic of acceptance....

I believe there are two principles that have worked for me in accepting people and not just "tolerating" them.

1. Listen to what they have to say and don't just judge on face value (or what others have said)

2. Accurately self-assess self so one doesn't just think they're better than other people (I'm not - you're not either)

Acceptance is important. It's vital. Australia needs a generation of young people who actually care about each other, not just about themselves. We need young people who are willing to love unrelentingly. We need young people who want to actually make a change and aren't just concerned about the latest iPhone or Android or debating which is better. I'm passionate about seeing people realise who they can truly be given the opportunity to shine.

There's no harm in trying to love on people.

P.S,

This blog has come out a lot messier than I intended. What I really want to say is that I'm over seeing people hurting over feeling left out, unloved or unwanted. I desire to see people feel loved, included and valued and it breaks my heart that it's just not happening. If you take anything from this, please just take this: do your best to be kind. You could make someones day.