People Watching

People Watching

It is amazing the things that you can see in big crowds these days. Whether you are at a mall, a theme park, or a sporting event, you are going to see some wild stuff. Sometimes what you see makes you laugh: you see the conflict of children in another family and think, Okay, it’s not just our family that struggles with our kids’ behavior. At other times, you will see things that disturb you, like the way a parent disciplines his or her children by scolding them and speaking curses upon them.

I don’t get a lot of time to watch people, but when I do, I have to guard my own heart against poor judgment. You see, watching people can be very entertaining, but the problem with watching others is how quickly we can slip into prejudicial thoughts and feelings about an entire race or economic class of people. It is so easy to make uninformed judgments about others without giving any thought to whether they are true or not.

First Samuel 16:7 shows us how God looks at mankind: “The LORD said to Samuel [about David], ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” Before God, every person has value. Remember, Christ died for the entire world, and his death declared the Father’s love for all. May we look at others as God does!

The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7