I am naive. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t.

A naive person can be defined as someone “having a lack of experience, judgement, or information” (dictionary.com). Often times I feel like this describes me perfectly. But I hate that. I grew up in a pretty conservative and sheltered home, so this could be at least part of the reason I am so naive. But I also think that most of my naivety is my own fault.

I like to assume the best in people. Maybe this isn’t a bad thing to do, but it certainly has its consequences. Often I feel that I am taken advantage of because of my opinions of others. I feel that I get stabbed in the back. I get extremely disappointed. I feel stupid and foolish. And I blame all of these feelings on myself and my inability to see that people aren’t always good.

The Bible says, “The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps” (Proverbs 14:15). It is important not to trust people who cannot be trusted. But at the same time, we cannot go about our lives not trusting anyone. Going around not trusting anyone leads to living a lonely and skeptical life, which is something that probably no one wants. While the Bible tells us that we shouldn’t blindly trust everyone, it does tell us that we need to love others and love “always protects, always trusts, always hopes [and] always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:7).

There is nothing wrong with assuming the best in people, so long as you realize that people will not always live up to expectations you may have of them. There is also nothing wrong with people not meeting these expectations. Making mistakes is all part of being human. It’s absolutely a guarantee that people are not going to be perfect. So just go into relationships knowing this.

Maybe it is okay to be naive.

Don’t be afraid to trust people. Don’t be afraid to love people. Don’t be afraid of getting let down by others. All of these things go hand in hand, even though we might not like that sometimes.