When we think of other people as our center and fulfillment, we live frustrated lives.

We cannot let the haters of this world define us. Or frighten us into no longer being ourselves.

I understand true life doesn't happen when I constantly gaze backwards, mulling over all the injustices others have done or I have done to others.

We grow when the walls press in. We grow when life steals our control. We grow in the darkness.

As I look back over my mountains of growth and compare them to the molehills where I stagnated, community often made the difference.

When we think of other people as our center and fulfillment, we live frustrated lives.

Pain can either thrust me into the arms of Jesus or make me turn my back on Him. Either way, it's a choice.