Seeing Others the way God Does
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t look at how handsome Eliab is or how tall he is, because I have not chosen him. God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” - 1 Samuel 16:7
Sometimes it is hard to like, get along with, or be nice to others who are different than us, particularly if they have done something or act in a way that we disapprove of. Some people also have different views than us that can cause divisions among us. No matter what people have done, God still tells us to care about them. We are supposed to try to love the people who we think are not our friends. It is easy to care about our friends who we like, but what about the people who are different?
While Jesus was on earth, He encountered many people who were sick, slaves to sin, and were hurting (Matthew 9:36, Luke 4:40). Jesus showed them grace and love by healing them, praying for them and even dying for them (Matthew 4:23, Luke 23:34, 1 John 2:2). We can learn from Him how to see others the way He does. We often need to be reminded that people are sinners who are in need of grace and love. Romans 5:8-10 is a great passage for us to see how God bestowed His grace and love to sinful people:
“But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God’s anger, because we have been made right with God by the blood of Christ’s death. While we were God’s enemies, he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Surely, now that we are his friends, he will save us through his Son’s life.”
Jesus showed grace and love to people and saw them as hurting individuals who needed help from Him. We can follow in our Savior’s footsteps and see people as He did and show them our grace and love as well.
Prayer of the day:
Dear heavenly Father,
You are a God of love. You loved us by sending Jesus to die for sinners like us. The truth is that we all have sinned and fallen short of Your glorious standard. Thank you for seeing us as people who are in need of Your grace. As Jesus as our example, please help us to see others in the way You see them since they are hurting individuals that are also in need of grace. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
