Have you ever met someone or know someone, in your mind, that never does any good or never thinks of anyone but themselves? Sure, they say the right things and appear to do the right things, but deep down it is just a façade. In today’s society that seems to be acceptable, and we praise those who do.

If you have never worked with children in a real special way, you have no idea that the adult that you see or deal with was once a child. They did not just wake up at age fifty and decided to be that way. It started a long time ago. Mother or father may not have caught it. There was no grandfather or grandmother to catch it. The village that was supposed to act as a buffer was too busy.

However, our Creator says that we have to deliberately try to find that moment to address it. “They are just different” is not acceptable.  Constant criticism is perhaps all they know.  Someone has to carefully catch them doing something right and applaud them for doing it. If not, they may never grasp the thought of change.

The scripture mentions someone like that; Manasseh, king of Judah. Second Chronicles 33 outlines some of his atrocities. Building sexually explicit altars to pagan gods, practicing witchcraft, and sacrificing his own children. He led the entire nation down this terrible path. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

Eventually, God got his attention. The Assyrians invaded, put a hook in his nose and took him to Babylon. Next, Manasseh finally did something right. He sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself. God heard him and restored him as king. Manasseh replaced the pagan practices with worship of the one true God. 

Perhaps you know someone like that. Liking or being happy with somebody involves agreeing with them. To love somebody is to feel affected by them and accepts them in all their strengths and shortcomings. You may have someone you love, but you may not love someone you like.