I love the mountains.

They inspire me. They awaken me. They’re really just a glorious piece of creation that I don’t think I will ever get tired of experiencing.

One thing that I have never thought or said when talking about the mountains and their beauty is the mention of the valleys.

Maybe you’re different than me, and you frequently mention them. But I haven’t.

I may recognize the beauty of the valley, but what really draws my attention is the serene nature of the risen land.

I’ve also never once heard someone ask, “Do you prefer the valleys or the beach?” It’s always, as you know, “the mountains or the beach”.

And there is nothing wrong with how we correlate this magnificence with specified words, because we all know that a mountain can’t truly be a mountain without a valley but,

I think we do this with people all too often.

We look at the risen parts of their lives and admire “the mountains” so to speak. Our eyes are always drawn to good features, and this is how our lives seem to operate.

What happens though, is when these valleys become too apparent and are open for public viewing, it’s difficult for us to associate.

We have become a people who automatically disregard valleys, in search for mountains.

Think about the last time that you saw someone’s faults…

Their quick tongue, their laziness, their forgetfulness, their over-excited actions, their lack-of-care, their failed promises.

And how did you react?

We have truly forgotten that valleys are supposed to be walked through. That valleys are a part of the mountainous beauty. That no one should be disregarded for having a valley in their life, because we all do.

Today, I was reading about a man who doesn’t think like we do.

A man who knew the valleys of men’s hearts all too well but still saw the mountains.

He never put up a boundary or kept himself distant.

He loved and he sought and he desired relationship.

Jesus loved so well.

He loved me and loves me despite all my valleys of weakness.

And my heart breaks that we find ourselves in a time where young adults feel like it is more beneficial for them to keep people at arms length because they’ve been hurt instead of loving people.

I’ve seen christians post things like, “Protect your own happiness.” and “At the end of the day, you’re only responsible for your happiness.”

I know these things may seem fine, but these statements sound nothing like, even opposite to the things that we hear Jesus saying with His time on earth where He lived and walked with real people.

I love the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. From the time they were first conceived and in the womb they were celebrating one another.

They were family. Cousins, who both shared the same goal: to make God’s heart a reality on the earth.

In Matthew 14 John the Baptist gets beheaded and the news gets brought to Jesus.

“On hearing this, Jesus slipped away privately by boat to be alone.” v 13

With such real sadness, this is what any of us would do too. We seek to be alone and think through what’s happened.

The next few sentences are what clue us in on love even in these moments.

“But when the crowds discovered he had sailed away, they emerged from all the nearby towns and followed him on foot. So when Jesus landed he had a huge crowd waiting for him. Seeing so many people, his heart was deeply moved with compassion toward them, so he healed all the sick who were in the crowd.” v 13-14

You see, love isn’t an act of solitude. It isn’t a desperate move to protect ourselves from others. Even in our deepest times of hurt or lack. Love is reaching out beyond ourselves and our boats to those who are in need around us.

Without the eyes of Love, we see these people as interruptions to our own healing. But with compassion, we see people, valleys and all, as people who need healing and Love and are worth sacrificing for.

It will always be about Love and seeing the entirety of the human condition. That if I have Love inside of me, than I am what they need.