You Cannot Reach Everyone
One thing I need to say, and it is important to say it plainly, is this:
You cannot reach everyone.
I wish that were not true.
I wish every act of kindness softened every hard heart.
I wish every loving word broke through every wall.
I wish every person who was shown patience, mercy, and compassion would receive it, be changed by it, and begin to change how they treat others.
But that is not how life works.
Some people are so hardened, so wounded, so self-protective, so controlling, or so consumed with themselves that love does not seem to get through.
And that can be a painful thing to accept.
Especially when the person you are trying to reach is someone close to you.
Sometimes the hardest people to love are not strangers.
Sometimes they are family.
Sometimes they are the very people who should know better.
Sometimes they are the people who are nice to everyone else, yet cruel to the ones closest to them.
And that makes it even harder.
Because outsiders often do not see what the family sees.
They see the public version.
They see the smile.
They see the charm.
They see the kindness shown to strangers.
They see the person who seems pleasant, helpful, and even wonderful.
But they do not see what happens behind closed doors.
They do not see the harshness.
They do not see the control.
They do not see the abuse.
They do not see the cruelty.
They do not see the emotional damage done to the people who live closest to that person.
And because they do not see it, they often do not understand it.
That can make the pain even heavier.
You may try kindness.
You may try patience.
You may try understanding.
You may try giving grace.
You may try refusing to return hate for hate.
You may try being the calm one.
The gentle one.
The patient one.
The one who chooses love instead of bitterness.
And still, nothing changes.
Or at least, nothing changes in them.
That is a hard thing to accept.
But it is real.
And I think it is important to say this clearly:
Spreading the luv does not mean you can reach everyone.
It does not mean every person will respond.
It does not mean every broken person will soften.
It does not mean every abusive person will repent.
It does not mean every narcissist will suddenly see the pain they cause and become someone different.
Sometimes kindness helps.
Sometimes it opens a door.
Sometimes it reaches a hurt heart.
But sometimes it does not.
And when it does not, you have to understand something very important:
That does not mean you failed.
It does not mean you did not love enough.
It does not mean you should keep standing there allowing someone to wound you over and over again in the name of “being loving.”
That is not love.
That is confusion.
Love does not mean enabling abuse.
Love does not mean pretending cruelty is okay.
Love does not mean letting someone keep harming you or harming others while you stand there and smile and call it grace.
No.
Sometimes love is warmth.
Sometimes love is mercy.
Sometimes love is patience.
And sometimes love is a boundary.
Sometimes love says, “I will not hate you back, but I will not keep standing here while you wound me either.”
That matters.
Because some people hear a message like Spreading The Luv and assume it means becoming a doormat.
It does not.
It means refusing to spread hate.
It means refusing to become bitter.
It means refusing to let someone else’s darkness turn you into a darker person.
But it does not mean you must remain in reach of someone who keeps using that reach to hurt you.
Some people can only be reached by God.
That is the truth.
You can plant seeds.
You can be kind.
You can pray.
You can try to bring warmth where there has been coldness.
You can do what is right.
But you cannot force someone to receive love.
You cannot make them become honest.
You cannot make them become soft.
You cannot make them admit what they are doing.
You cannot make them want to change.
Only God can reach some people.
And when you realize that, prayer may be the most loving thing you have left to give.
Think about that.
Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is stop trying to force a result that is not yours to produce.
Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is place that person in God’s hands and step back.
Not with hatred.
Not with revenge.
Not with bitterness.
But with wisdom.
With truth.
With boundaries.
With prayer.
That is not giving up in the wrong sense.
That is recognizing your limits.
And that is healthy.
Because if you keep believing it is your job to fix someone who refuses love, refuses truth, and refuses change, you may slowly wear yourself down trying to do what only God can do.
And that is not where you need to live.
You are not called to become their savior.
You are called to choose what you spread.
You are called to refuse hatred.
You are called to refuse bitterness.
You are called to refuse becoming like the person who hurt you.
You are called to keep your own heart from hardening.
That may be one of the hardest parts of all.
Because when someone keeps hurting others, it is very easy to become bitter.
Very easy to become angry.
Very easy to let their hatred plant something ugly inside of you.
That is why this matters so much.
Because even when you cannot reach them...
You still have a choice about what grows in you.
Will you let their hatred grow roots in your own heart?
Or will you turn it over to God and refuse to become what you hate?
That is the real test.
And that is where spreading the luv still matters.
Not because every person will receive it.
But because you must not let hate have the final word in you.
So yes, spread the luv.
Be kind.
Be patient.
Be merciful.
Plant good seeds wherever you can.
But do not confuse love with allowing someone to keep wounding you.
And do not think you are failing if some people remain unreachable.
Some people can only be reached by God.
And when you have done what you can, it is enough to pray, step back, and place them in His hands.
A Final Thought
You cannot reach everyone.
But you can still choose what kind of person you will be.
You can still choose what kind of seeds you will plant.
You can still choose whether hate will spread through you, or stop with you.
So spread love where you can.
Set boundaries where you must.
Pray when there is nothing left to say.
And trust God with the people you cannot change.
Because hate spreads.
But love can spread too.
Stand up in the fight against hate. Choose to spread the luv!
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