It happened. My squad made me cry. Or should I say the Lord spoke through my squad in a way that made me cry. But my tears aren’t of sorrow, at least not toward my squad. I love every single one of them and I have yet to meet any of them in person.
But it feels so amazing to love them without reservation, without judgments, without needing a reason. It’s the love Jesus has for us and the way he asks for us to love one another.
So why am I crying? Because we are still trapped in the way the World sees us and concerned about doing what the Worlds tells us is correct or pretty or better. A gentleman on my team brought up a tremendous point about shaving his face during our journey and warning the ladies about his “hairiness”. He asked if anyone else was worried about keeping smooth. Within hours both men and women on my squad voiced the same concern. But why?
Why are we so trapped in what the World tells us is beautiful? God made us with hair for a reason. It keeps us warm, it keeps our pores from collecting dirt, it is natural.
I immediately think of Karen, a woman in my church who is battling breast cancer. She is weeks away from finishing her treatments and the one thing she cannot wait for is to have her hair grow again. Even the kids are counting down the days for her. So why do the rest of us who have hair continually shave it off and rip it out like it is a curse?
Men, if you cannot see past a girl’s hairy legs, you do not love them with a beautiful heart. Women, if you cannot handle a man’s hairy back or “duck dynasty beard” you do not love them with a beautiful heart.
I am calling out my squad to leave behind what the World tells us is beautiful. I am calling out my squad to be real with each other, to be accepting of one another's natural features and to love with a beautiful heart.
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)
