It’s All About the Eyes
In my office I have a wall that is covered with pictures of people I have been privileged to bring the Gospel to over the past several years in SE Asia. Most of the people are covered in dirt, have no shoes and their clothes (if they have any) are nothing more than worn-out rags. There are children who live in the garbage dumps and the Muslim slums, displaced families hiding from the armies in the jungles, Muslim women and Taliban leaders struggling for survival in villages destroyed by earthquakes, children who have been rescued from human trafficking and child slavery…and then there is me.
As I look at the wall I see lives that have been changed forever by God’s unconditional love and salvation…lives that may not have been touched if we would have looked at their outward appearances or circumstances with judgmental eyes. But most of all I realize that, because we were able to reach beyond our initial judgmental or discriminatory thoughts and instead be moved with compassion, the life that has been changed the most has been mine.
I can’t help but think how everything I am and all I have accomplished for Christ has been because He does not look at my outward appearance. His eyes do not look at the circumstances of my life or at my great abilities and skills – or complete lack thereof. Instead of the outward appearances, His eyes look only at my heart.
The way we look at people around us is our choice. We can choose to either look through the eyes of this world that judge by outward appearances, or we can look at them through the eyes of Jesus. My desire and the challenge I leave for you is to look at the people around you – whether they live in the garbage dumps, work at your local gas station, or sit next to you in church this week – through the eyes of Jesus…eyes that see people’s hearts and let compassion move us to action – action that changes lives and truly changes the world.
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