"Don't ever judge a man's conscience because you never know at what point along his journey you've encountered him." I heard that quote this morning and it got me pondering...
What you might see: The drunk on the corner begging for money so he can get his next fix.
What you might not have seen: He lost his wife and children in a car accident earlier this year, lost all hope and attempted to drown his sorrows in alcohol.
What you might see: The pregnant teenager who recently dropped out of school.
What you might not have seen: From the age of ten, her mother's boyfriends wouldn't keep their hands off of her. When she told her mother, instead of protecting her, her mother accused her of trying to steal her boyfriends.
What you might see: The guy yelling at his wife and kids.
What you might not have seen: Two months ago he was beating them up, repeating a cycle of abuse that happened to him in his own childhood. Now for the first time in his life, through therapy, he's learning to break the cycle.
What you might see: The chain smoker who can barely last a few minutes without a cigarette.
What you might not have seen: He used to be a heroin addict.
What you might see: A 300 pound woman who's having trouble fitting into the seat at the movie theater.
What you might not have seen: A year and a half ago she weighed 430 pounds.
The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. A man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Sam. 16:7) We have limited vision and therefore do not make good judges. We have no idea where someone started or how far they've come. We don't know what kinds of sorrows they've had to bear or what it feels like to be in their shoes. Everyone is on a journey, and we're all at different places. We don't know what direction someone is moving in, and even if we did, sometimes a person's journey home begins in the opposite direction; like the prodigal son who had to come to the end of himself before he'd had enough and was ready to turn around.
Unlike the pharisees (the religious leaders of Jesus' day), Jesus was never offended by people's sin. Jesus saw people as harassed and helpless. He saw them in bondage, enslaved, needing to be rescued and set free. He was moved with compassion and invited them to come to Him so he could heal them. Jesus looked at them and loved them. When we catch a glimpse of someone in the middle of their story, do we come to a conclusion about their worth, or do we see them through Jesus' eyes?
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