Put on God's glasses

As a nurse, I have the privilege of meeting people of all different shapes and sizes. I don't mean that just physically. I encounter people of all walks of life. They are of different race, class, profession... They all have different personalities and they've all had different life experiences. That's the beauty of my job, after all, heart disease does not discriminate. =D This is also one of the reasons I love my job; there are not many jobs out there that allow you to meet so many types of people, listening to some many life stories. Over time however, I begin to notice that with some people, it's really easy to bond with them and to develop a soft spot for them, while with others, it's much harder. I don't know how else to say this, but sometimes in life we meet people who simply just push our buttons.

This kind of got me thinking though, why is it so easy for us to get along with some people, and not so easy with others. Why is it that some people we meet we click with right away? While others we just can't get a good feeling about? I think it's because we all see people through our internal filters. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have our own biases. These biases develop over time through our upbringing and our life experiences. Then when we view the world and the people in it, we see them through these filters. These filters allow us to pass judgment, to think negative things about someone, and to condemn others. Because of these filters, certain things or people simply get on our last nerve. But the truth of the matter is, each one of us is just as capable of getting on other people's nerves! We are just as likely to push other people's buttons.

We all know what Jesus says about this. Jesus teaches us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27). He teaches us not to judge others (Luke 6:37). We all know this, but how many of us actually practice this on day to day basis? I for one have not. Especially when emotions runs high and the anger rises, I am definitely not utilizing these principles. But Jesus said:

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12

The truth is, nobody wants to be seen in a negative light. Nobody wants to judged on what they've said or done. Everybody wants to be seen in a positive way, to be encouraged and loved. Since it's hard for us to love and accept certain people because we see them through our filters, then maybe the first step is to get rid of our filters and see people how Jesus sees them.

It's kind of like putting on a pair of dirty glasses. When the glasses is dirty, everything we see is going to be dirty. Everything and everyone we look at, we can't see them clearly. Our vision is compromised, thus, our understanding and empathy is affected. But Jesus' glasses is clean. He sees things and people around us much more clearly. He sees things for what they are and people for who they are. With our dirty glasses, we make the mistake of looking at people critically, judging and mislabeling them, but Jesus with His clean glasses, He sees them with love and compassion. God doesn't look at outward appearances, He sees what's inside; He sees each person's potential. Remember the story of God choosing a king for Israelites out of Jesse's children? Samuel saw Eliab first and thought to himself surely this is the one, but God said to Samuel,

"...The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

Okay, not to be cynical or anything, but I don't think it's ever possible to fully get rid of our filters or our dirty glasses. But I think it's about making that effort to put on God's glasses and see people how God sees them. It's making that conscious effort to stop thinking that negative thought about someone. It's looking at a person and think, Jesus loves that person as much as He loves you and I. It's trying our best to look at someone in a positive light. Finally, it's putting away our own dirty glasses and try to peer through God's clean glasses.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38