By uniting yourself to God, you’re also lifting up other people. For that you have to be truly alive – joyful, honest, truly yourself – because you can’t lead others to God if you are pretending to be someone else. Embracing people where they’re at, consuming them with the love of Christ, is a matter of loving them for who they are. Yes, we must have it clear and acknowledge that we and others are sinful, but we want to love them anyway, unconditionally. To be a living sursum corda is to be open to getting to know those around us for who they truly are. You can’t only think of others in the way you want them to be but must start by appreciating the good in each person. Simply by loving them and by being yourself, you lift them up to encounter God, and then personal growth can begin. – Sam V.
