My journey over the past few months has led me to a deeper realization: people who are wounded in spirit do not easily change, and it is not our role to change them. That belongs to God’s grace.

Yet they are not without purpose. They can become doorways that lead us closer to God—opportunities to practice kindness, understanding, and patience, while remaining steadfast in the truth.

When we choose to encounter even the toxic, the dishonest, and the mean-spirited with this disposition, something within us is transformed.