It's The Heart

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."  1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

Once again my heart hurts because of the actions of others, when any violence happens I am grieved no matter who does it. There are have been times when I judge before I get to know a person, I don't mean to but I think it's in our human nature. When someone approaches with his pants hanging down so I can see his underwear or butt crack it's kind of hard not to judge.

But before you judge me, you need to know I have judge my food before I ate it as well. A friend of mine brought hummus and pita chips, and one look at I decided I was not going to try any hummus. She encouraged me to try it and I did, and now I really enjoy snacking on hummus and pita chips.

I have also learned at our youth group to not judge these teens God brings us. I try to make them feel welcome whether they have a gauge hanging out of their ear, an earring hanging off their nose, or when they show up in pajama pants or pants hanging down. As they come every week, I get to know them a little better and it turns out they are really good kids.

Last night as we were merging on to a road, I noticed a kind gesture someone helping out somebody else. From the looks of it (I know I'm judging from the looks, he-he) a white man had run out of gas and his run down truck sat on the road. The white man held a gas can and black man was standing near him (he had parked across the ramp), I believe this black man took the white man to get gas and was making sure he was good before he went on his way.

I wasn't really looking at their outward appearances, I noticed first how someone was helping somebody else out a heart gesture. The kindness that was being shown to another human being. I was wondering where the news crews were so this story could be shown on the news.

I hope that as I go throughout my day I am able to see a person as God sees them. Much like the picture of all of our muscles someone shared on Facebook, from this picture you can't tell what nationality or color someone is. Maybe if we could all look at each others hearts we'd be less judgmental, maybe that person could end up someone who could change our lives for the better.