Making Fun Isn't Fun

"Whoa....have you seen Anne's shirt?" Kayla said to everyone seated at our table. I watched as all the "popular" kids laughed and snickered. We all looked at Anne, and saw she was wearing a shirt that said, "I <3 Cows", but instead of a heart, a hamburger was there. Jacob laughed. "She is a cow", he said. I felt the aggravation rising up inside me. I had come to this table to sit with my friend Sarah, and all the "Popular" kids had come over to sit. There's Kayla, pretty, talkative...and very flirtatious. To her left is her friend, Nicole. Also pretty, talkative, and...very flirtatious. Next to me are my friends since diaper days, Trevor and Travis. Smitten with the aforementioned girls, but overall, very nice. Then....Jacob. I guess good looking, very egotistical....and well, just grates on me. (You may think I sound rude and snippity, but I assure you, this was their character.)

As they laughed, I started to get very annoyed. Anne was also a friend Trevor, Travis, and I grew up with. She is hilarious, and one of the nicest girls you would ever meet. But she is overweight. This fact doesn't bother me at all, Anne is one of my best friends, and I feel personality and character is more important than looks or weight.

I glared at Jacob. "Don't you think that's a little rude?" Jacob shrugged. "It's true". I saw Kayla and Nicole giggle. Even Travis and Trevor wouldn't say a word. I felt sick. I didn't want to be around these popular kids anymore. Sure, they may be the "it" crowd of youth camp, but were they really worth hanging out with if they made fun of my friend just because she weighed more than one of them did? I didn't think so.

The above story is completely true. It happened last year at youth camp. The names have been changed, but those are the exact words. Now, I don't hate popular people or anything, and even the ones that get made fun of can be really nasty to someone else. I'm ashamed to admit that I've made fun of people before too, and had to ask God's forgiveness, and make it right.

In John 13:34,35 Jesus said:  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

Jesus loved everyone, no matter what they looked like. Do you think he would have refused to heal someone just because they weren't pretty enough? He healed Lepers, who were shunned from society because of the horrible disease that ravaged their bodies. Many were missing noses, fingers, toes....etc! Jesus never refused anyone!

So to get to my point....if God is no respecter of persons, (Romans 2:11) why should we be? I am not saying you should love people's sin, and tell them they are fine when they are really going to Hell, but to show them the love of Christ. It shouldn't matter if that kid sitting in the corner is ugly, skinny, fat, pretty, a cutter, etc, they still need to be shown Christ's love. So I want to challenge you to find somebody this week, whether at your school or job, to find someone who is hurting or alone, and simply do something nice for them. It may be just a smile, or a quick hello. But whatever it may be, I'm sure God will use it to help that person.



-Lisa