Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover: Seeing Others Through God's Eyes

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged." — Matthew 7:1 (NIV)

We're a judgmental lot us humans. We so quickly judge a book by its cover. We make assumptions about people by the clothes they wear; by their speech; by their body language and yet many times these initial observations can be quite wrong.

Once we get to know the person below skin deep, we change our mind and take a completely different perspective. You see, it's so important to watch the judgements of your heart. The Bible says judge not lest you yourself be judged. And Jesus said the measure with which you give will in fact be the measure you receive.

If you are continually dishing out criticism, gossip and maligning people without really knowing them and without having any substance to what you are saying, then don't be surprised when it all comes back on you as well.

What a powerful thing it is to be an agent of encouragement and to speak well of people. You see, Jesus said there is a radically different way that He wanted His children to live and that was the way of loving everyone. In fact, God so loved the world that He sent Jesus. He didn't just come for a selected group of people or those who had the right skin colour or in the right socio-economic group. The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it is a message for everyone and that everyone is accepted equally as a child of the Living God.

And a key to life is to see each other through God's eyes and to respect the uniqueness of each person in spite of what their outward appearance may be. So, don't judge a book by its cover — you can so often completely misread the cues.

Reflection/Action:
Remember some people who you've changed your opinions on. Who are you perhaps judging unfairly now? Has there been gossip or malignment you've been party to? What can you do to appreciate them more? How could you encourage them?