Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on the Right Perspective

Sometimes we don’t see things from the right perspective.

The other day we drove past a church. I looked at the sign, looked at the building, and thought to myself, “That’s a pretty small church.”

Driving on, I looked over my shoulder and saw it from a different perspective. It actually was a very big church.

I marveled at how wrong I was, all because I judged that place of worship from the wrong perspective.

When I saw it as small, I was tempted to dismiss it as less important and lacking somehow.

When I saw how big it actually was, I was impressed and assumed they were effective in ministry.

The truth is, no matter how I was looking at it, I had no idea what that church was actually like. Big or small, from the outside looking in I could only make assumptions. To really know what that church was like I would have to go inside, meet the people, and experience a worship service.

Don’t we do the same thing with people?

We look at someone from one perspective and they seem to be lacking. We dismiss them after a quick, judgmental glance.

Then we see them from another angle and we’re more impressed. They have so much going for them, so they must be worth knowing. The truth is, we really don’t know what that person is like until we get to know them better.

We can despise someone just because we don’t like the way they look or how they talk. We may admire someone else because they’re good-looking and say all the right things.

But the person we consider plain may have a heart of gold. They may end up being the most fiercely loyal friend we’ve ever had.

The attractive person may be so toxic we can’t stand to be around them. Their smooth talk may cover up a mountain of insecurities.

Or vice versa. We just won’t know until we spend time with that person and experience life with them.

The Holy Spirit will guide us as we deepen some relationships and terminate others.

No matter what someone looks like or how they act, we can try to see them as someone God loves. (Because he does!)

It all comes down to seeing others from the right perspective.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8–9 NIV)

Do you see others from the wrong perspective? Are you dismissive and judgmental, or do you see people as loved and full of potential? How can focusing on God help you to see them as he sees them?