Human beings are, by nature, social creatures. We weren't designed to exist in isolation, detached from one another despite our differences in race, ethnicity, culture, or any other demographic distinction. Yet one of the greatest obstacles to meaningful human connection is our tendency to magnify one another's flaws.

Ironically, we readily acknowledge that none is perfect. We admit that human flaws are thus inevitable and that many can be corrected, refined, or simply tolerated. However, when it comes to building relationships, we often treat imperfections as a disqualifying condition. We suddenly put emphasis on the faults we identify in others, magnifying them beyond proportion, and using them as the basis for deciding who is worthy of our company and who isn't.

Whether consciously or not, in so doing, we deny others the grace that allows them to grow, change, and mature beyond their present flaws.

Now, beneath this disposition lies a deeper deficiency: the absence of love.