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Painful, but precious.

People are precious.  But painful sometimes.
Sometimes they stay, sometimes they go.  Sometimes they hurt you, sometimes they don't.
And sometimes you can't figure out why they would choose to do either of those things.
But one thing is for sure, no person is replaceable and they are all precious.
Regardless of how hard you may have to work to keep or restore a relationship (or to create one in the first place) every person is worth it.
I mean I know we can't go around being friends with every person in the world, but all I'm saying is, we need to regard the people that are in our lives as what they are: precious.
Keep in mind, I'm mostly talking to Yours Truly with this post.

Sometimes, it's hard for me to live out everything I wrote in the paragraph above. I could come up with a plethora of excuses why I might want to shy away from it;
"I've been hurt by people too many times."  True, I've been hurt.
"They just drain all the life out of me!" Yah, sometimes it does feel that way, doesn't it.
"They don't care, so why should I?"  Because (among other reasons) if nobody decided to be the bigger person, we would all be in the relational DUMPS right now and that's no way to live a life.
In all these excuses, I see one common theme: selfishness.  And, (this doesn't always = selfishness), but I see the words "I" or "me" at least once in every excuse. Jus sayin'. 

Jesus has never quit on me or you or anybody else.  And I know He's not selfish.  So inductive reasoning brings me to the fact that since He doesn't quit on people, and I'm the one prone to selfishness, my natural tendency to walk away from people who have wronged me is. . . well, wrong.  And probably, in most cases, selfish.
Jesus keeps trying until they tell Him to go away. And even after that. And if He is what I'm immitating, I have no room to quit on anyone, regardless of myself- no matter if they hurt me, or it feels like they're draining the life out of me, or if it seems like they don't care. 
I don't have to keep coming back for more, but I can't afford to quit on them.  I might be the only human who hasn't.  I might be the only human that still prays and has hope for them.

Relationships can be hurtful and I am by no means telling you to stay in an abusive relationship (even if it's verbally or emotionally so). 
But if you are a believer, we're called to pray at all times about all things.  Even those people that you feel like quitting on.  Even those people that make you feel like the one losing.  You're not. 

As I was writing this post, I was listening to songs on youtube and this song was on the suggestions list.  I kinda forgot how the song went but I know I like Tenth Avenue North so I clicked on it.  And it fit. Fantastically.  I was in a rut of how to get the idea of this post across from my head to this blank space using just a keyboard.  But I think this song does it quite well.
Give it a listen. :)
 
Even if you can't do anything else, pray it out. Give things to the Lord. He can handle it. I promise.
And keep on keepin' on.
 
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians
              4: 6-7

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