1a : to determine or identify the essential qualities or meaning of
2a : to fix or mark the limits of : demarcate
3: characterize, distinguish
~Definition from Merriam-Webster, m-w.com
I love to sing but I cannot be defined as a singer. I have allergies but they do not define me; they may change my world in a way that I have to do some things differently but I am not defined by my allergies. We all have things in our lives that help us become who we are supposed to be.
How many times do we look at someone and put a label on them or define them, maybe we even feel sorry for them. Oh, that person has cancer, or MPS, or asperger's syndrome. We need to look past the condition and see the person. We can help be a part of who that person is or who they will become by the way we treat him or her. More importantly he or she may become a part of who we are and who we become. There are lessons to be learned from these people and these conditions.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned in the last few years is to not judge a person or their children by always assuming that someone has bad parenting skills (I am not saying there are not bad parents out there). However, maybe, just maybe, that parent is dealing with a child with autism who cannot handle another change for the day or a child who is uncomfortable and unable to express his or herself in a way other than to have a meltdown. Should these parents not be allowed to do their shopping or have a meal out with their families? Should we define the child as a bad child with bad behavior whose parents are bad parents?
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb." Psalm 139:13
Should we not acknowledge that God created all of us to be unique individuals and accept each for who they are instead of defining people (and feeling embarrassed, sorry, or ashamed) for someone because of something we define as being a problem?
I challenge you to become someone who no longer seeks to define an individual based on what you see as a deficit and accept them for who they are and during that journey perhaps you will allow them to teach you who you are supposed to be.
