love God, love people.

these days i've been being blessed left and right from hanging out with the cornerstone freshmen class. ill be the first to admit that i was utterly selfish and slacking off last semester in terms of spending time and getting to know the underclassmen. i remember when i was a freshman nearly four years ago, all i wanted was a tight group of friends surrounded by older sisters and brothers who genuinely cared for me and my spiritual well-being. sadly i never got that, and i swore to myself that if i ever had the opportunity to shepherd a younger sis or bro in Christ, i would do it with the best of my ability and intent all in the name of God's love. there may be way too many times when i may come off as insensitive and mean, but when it comes to the youth and the outcast, i've always had a huge heart for them mainly because i had been through all of that. i used to be that young, shy newcomer that nobody said 'hello' to. but now that i've broken out from that shell of timidity, this is where i feel like God has given me that heart to serve those who feel lonely and afraid.

anyway, couple weeks ago our leadership team received some major rebuking at our lack of efforts in reaching out to the younger class.. that seriously humbled me, and although i'm always so ready to snap back with a myriad of excuses, this time i was at a loss of words. my justification was "oh, well i'm graduating this year and probably won't ever see any of those kids again so there's no point in wasting my time and energy in trying to get to know any of them." wow, selfish much??? sadly, this really was the way i thought all the way up until the rebuke. it completely shattered me because i remembered back to all the times when i was a freshman how much i wanted and needed spiritual encouragement and guidance from those that were older and "wiser". and yet here i was in my senior year and i barely even knew their names. cmon, rach.

but lately i've been privileged to see God working in our church and in the hearts of His people, and it's so encouraging to see such an amazing freshman class that has each others backs. i think this whole concept of servitude is coming to a full circle for me now.. you serve God by serving His people. you love them because God loved them first.