Thankfully, it didn’t take long for me to realize that when it comes down to it, “big kids” are actually just little kids in bigger bodies. Ha! They were still antsy before lunch, they still needed me to remind them that I wasn’t going to talk over them, they still wanted to tell me stories about their weekends, and they still knew exactly what to do to get however much attention they craved. It didn’t matter how intimidating or tough their exteriors appeared, they just wanted to make me happy and earn my love and respect. Down in their deepest cores, people are all the same. And while in the past, I had just passed by the “big kids” in school hallways, once I got to know them, I realized they actually weren’t intimidating at all. 

I can still vividly remember a moment when this realization clicked with me. I have a table in the middle of my classroom with some games, a big puzzle-in-progress, and a pile of intricate coloring sheets and colored pencils. One afternoon, when a big, strong football player finished a test before the rest of his classmates, he grabbed a coloring sheet and just sat at my table coloring carefully and contentedly for the rest of the class period. It made my heart so happy, and it reminded me that no matter what’s on the outside, we’re all the same humans on the inside. First graders love to sit and color, and so do high school seniors. 

I love the way this light bulb teaching moment also reminds me that all people on earth were created carefully and beautifully by Jesus. The famous actors, the hardworking public servants, the struggling students and the convicted criminals are all just people. That coworker who is hard to get along with? That boss who puts fear into your heart? That friend who let you down? They’re all people—imperfect, but perfectly created by God Almighty. Do you need to take that reminder to heart today? 

You can approach and love all people with the same generosity of spirit. Because it’s easy? Not necessarily. Because God created every person you encounter daily? Definitely. The next time you need help remembering that one particular person in your life is a person made by God, here are some powerful words from Scripture to help your heart. (And remember, when these verses say, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” or “how much more valuable you are than birds,” God’s not just talking about YOU. His words apply to everybody.)

• So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. -Genesis 1:27

• For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. -Psalm 139:13-14

• Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. -Psalm 100:3
• Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! -Luke 12:24

When you see each person around you as a precious creation of Christ, it will be easier to love another. Thank goodness Jesus wasn’t intimidated or put off by any one group of people. He came to die for everybody because He loves everybody the same. Do you? Can you commit to reminding yourself that all people are just people? …the same—created by God and loved enough for Jesus to die for them, too? The intimidating “big kid” in your life may have a daunting or hard-to-love exterior, but he or she was fearfully and wonderfully made in the same way you were. Praise the Lord!

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. -2 Corinthians 5:15