How do you see Me

How do you see Me?

Samantha W.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

The above verse is a reminder that none of us are just skin deep. Yet outward appearance doesn’t stop with the physical makeup of someone. Appearance, simply termed, is how others view us.

We see people as pretty, sweet, rude, or self-centered, etc. We form opinions by the way they look and act. And, more often than not, we judge them by these opinions.

A good example in the Bible is Jonah. When he begrudgingly preached to Nineveh, God used him to save the entire city.

God was pleased. Jonah wasn’t.

How did he see them? As the dirty, thieving, wicked people they were. The city teemed with murderers, cutthroats, adulterers…you get the picture. Why should they be given the same grace as Jonah, who’d always been one of God’s chosen people?

But how did God see the Ninevites? Though the people were indeed wicked and sinning, God looked past it, and saw hearts that bled and had need of a savior. In his love, he didn’t measure their worth in the way they dressed, lived, or acted. He looked deeper—at the heart.

Today, He does the same with us. It’s a good thing; otherwise, none of us could be saved. For we all have fallen short.

We can’t see the pain and scars hidden in others like God does. We never know what is inside people, but we can choose to look past their offenses. We can choose to turn the other cheek and not judge by outward appearance. We can choose to love as God loves. Having received such grace ourselves, isn’t that one of the greatest things we could give in return?