I was recently watching an interview of Vybz Kartel on The Breakfast Club. In it, they asked him, “Who stood by you during your time in prison?” He began to name a few people—those who didn’t leave his side in one of the darkest seasons of his life.
As I watched, something stirred in my heart.
I want to be that kind of person.
The kind of person someone can point to and say, “They were there when I needed someone the most.”
That desire led me to a personal and convicting question:
Can people say that about me now?
The truth?
Some can.
Some can’t.
And that realization made me pause.
Why have I sometimes failed to be that person?
One word came to mind: Fear.
But not just any kind of fear.
Fear rooted in past pain—of showing up, loving deeply, being loyal… to all the wrong people.
No one really prepares you for that part of life.
Being “ride or die” for people who were just riding until it was convenient to leave.
People who loved you for what you gave, not for who you were.
And when the storm passed, so did they.
That kind of heartbreak makes you cautious.
It makes you hesitant.
It builds invisible walls.
But here’s the thing God has been gently reminding me:
Not everyone is them.
And I can’t let the wrong ones in my past rob the right ones in my present.
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
— Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
I’ve been asking God to heal me.
To soften what got hardened.
To restore the part of me that still wants to love like Him—even when it hurts.
Because Jesus never stopped showing up. Even when people betrayed Him.
Even when we didn’t deserve it.
He stayed.
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”
— Proverbs 17:17 (NIV)
That’s who I want to be.
Not for the attention.
Not for recognition.
But because it reflects the heart of the God I serve.
So this is my prayer:
Lord, help me be someone others can count on.
Heal the places where betrayal planted fear.
Let love lead again.
And give me wisdom to know where to sow my loyalty, but also courage to never stop showing up.
Because someone out there needs the kind of friend I’m becoming.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
— Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
