Where's the line?

There's always that gray area....that blurred line.

I know this: Ya gotta recognize that sin before you can recognize that Savior!

Here's my gray area: being loving & Christlike VS. standing up for myself & not getting walked all over.

It seems as though this goes hand in hand with being a people pleaser. It seems to me as if that phrase can have both good & bad connotations. Good because you'd rather just go with the flow, push yourself to the side, and simply please others before yourself. Bad because you lose sight of what you truly believe, no longer have a voice, and become controlled by people.

As children of the Father, we're called to love others as Christ loves us. Yes, we fail, but we're still supposed to strive. Thus, God gives us the ability to love people through their sin just like they're given the ability to love us through our sin.

But, does attempting to unconditionally love a person, despite their flaws, at some point come to cease? Maybe that ceasing occurs when they are too proud to realize they're in the wrong, are blind to their sin, and surely aren't sorry for it. One person is poured out until run dry. The other is overflowing. They want to be showered in love and grace, not recognizing they have a legitimate need for it.

When I think of standing up for myself and not caring what other people think, I ask myself if this is possible in love. I think it is. It's not meant to sound selfish or disregard other peoples' feelings. It's about knowing just where that line is, where you know you can no longer sacrifice your total well-being for another who is not willing to even attempt to love you back.

But, when "those people" do legitimately care, they'll want to see your side of it, want to respect you for having an opinion. Love is a two way street (three if you include that dude named Jesus). If they see their own sin, see where they're in the wrong, where they've been hurtful, they're going to naturally want to come running back in eagerness to mend those wounds back together.