Don't Blow Out Their Candle.

A candle is meant to burn- to smell good- to look pretty- to burn. I suppose sometimes people buy them with the intention of decoration. That's fine, but that's not the purpose of a candle. When you light a candle, you have to put forth effort. You can't just speak and it is lit- sorry, you aren't the one with that type of power. You have to do something. I came across a quote the other day and WOW has it stuck with me. Ready?

Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make yours shine any brighter. 

-Unknown

Hmmm. If you think about the candle as your life [especially Christians, here] what benefit would it be to put somebody else down [other Christians, especially]? What will you gain? You know, sometimes peoples' candles took a long time to light. It was tough. It was a battle. It almost went out, and maybe went out a time or two and hope was almost lost. Just because it is lit now does not mean it was easy. Some people grew up surrounded by candles- some grew up in darkness so when they made the decision to light their own it was difficult in more ways than one. If you think everybody who has a light to shine has got to that point easily and has not met disappointment & rejection head on, you are mistaken. It can be a daily decision to keep that light shining. It should be, actually. You become more appreciative and understanding of more circumstances (yes, those individuals who struggle to keep their light shining). It took work to get to where they are. A lot of faith. They desire people to pour into them (okay, poor imagery there when talking about fire and pouring). You get it, though. So, if your candle is burning, keep on burning. Keep on making the decision to burn. Keep on nurturing and tending to it so it does not fade away... slowly or quickly. Everybody gets to the same destination by taking the same road, right? No. Definitely not. Not every candle was lit easily. To those that were, don't look down on those whose were not. Being {brave} can mean SO many things. Picking up that match was the first brave thing they have ever done. Appreciate that. Don't blow out their candle with the hope of yours shining brighter- doesn't work that way, my friend.

[Not only religious beliefs, here: somebody's career, residency, marital status, children, accomplishments, failures, socioeconomic status, illness, personality, and hobbies can be tied in as well]

Basically, don't judge & have the foolish goal of personal gain by attempting to dim their light.