A Quick Look

A quick look

Have you ever stopped to think about how you look at other people? I mean really, think about it. No matter where you go or what you are doing, we are thinking and interacting with the environment we are in.
Let me give you an example: Let's say, I decide to stop by the grocery store on the way home from work today. Whether I want to or not I am going to be surrounded by people...some sinners and some saints. As I've said before, I tend to have a critical eye.
~~ Let me pause for a second to tell you something I am learning anew. God gave me the critical eye that I have. What I mean is this: God gave me the ability to carefully evaluate my world and everything in it. If you were going to hire a crew of carpenters to build you a home, you'd want one of them to have a critical eye. He's the one that's going to see all the details that bring lasting beauty and value to your home. He'll see the doorknobs that are missing a screw, the crown molding with improperly mitered corners, the tile that's cracked, the doors that don't shut all the way, etc. It's this ability when gracefully appropriated (as God intended) that is a gift to the world. ~~ So, from the time I pull into the parking lot (especially if I'm with my husband) my critical, legalistic, Stephanie eye notices every single half-dressed female around, and my mind starts working. Within seconds my face is all screwed up and I'm slicing and dicing people; making comments about this one and that one. In other words, I could say I'm slandering people that I don't even know. Ewww!! In times like these when I catch me being oh so ugly, I praise God for the opportunity that each incident is to confess, stop what I'm thinking or saying and bless whoever it may be with a prayer. And in the times that I don't catch myself, I thank God that I am still loved and still forgiven!!
So, I ask you again, how do you look at other people? Are you always finding fault? Do you always see the sin they do before you see the person they are? Are you quick or slow to speak truth or are you quicker to demonstrate grace?
Sisters, all of us have only to cast our gaze toward the Cross and remember that we were bought with a price. We all deserve hell. Instead we live longing for the day Christ will return. Praise God that we know His will, His character and His way demonstrated to us over and over again in His Word. Let's go and do likewise.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. ~~1 Peter 1:3-9 ESV 1 Stephanie