Straight to the Heart

September 16, 2014 by blmaluso 15 Comments

 

Something has been on my heart for a while now, and I have learned in the past that when the Holy Spirit nudges me, I need to act.  So here I am, Lord.  I pray that these words touch the hearts that need to hear them.

One Saturday, as I was heading into my usual grocery store, my eyes fell upon a person that by the world’s standards, might not be considered physically attractive.  I have learned to get to know someone by what is in their heart, however, it is a fact that we are all different…some more attractive than others.  Many people were born with a disability or maybe a deformity of what we would consider “normal.”

I asked the Lord why some people were more beautiful or attractive, that it didn’t seem “fair” to me.  As quickly as I asked the question, I received his reply.

“I don’t see beauty the same way the world sees beauty.”

I realized that everything that we “see” with our human eyes is veiled.  We think we “know” and we think we “see”, however we do not see or know with the fullness that God does.  Although I should have already been aware of this, something in my spirit finally clicked.

God sees the beauty in each of the souls that he created; he knows the journey of each one of us, and he loves us for our uniqueness.  He knows the depths of our hearts, the source of our joy, and also the source of our sorrow, pain, and sin.

The Lord looks past the physical, and sees our hearts.

Wow.

Thinking about what the Lord communicated to me, it led me to think about another question I have harbored.

I used to wonder how “holy” people of God could be loving to those who are living in obvious sin; those that are rebellious and irreverent; those who refuse to open their hearts to the Lord.  Don’t get me wrong, I already knew that we all need to love everyone, including our enemies, however my question was how to act toward those we are in personal contact with who are “undesirable” or outwardly sinful in their behavior.  I did not understand how to be loving without seeming to condone their behavior.

In the past, those questions and the uncomfortable position those encounters would place me in, led me to avoid the encounters as much as I could. I would pray for the people I deemed to be living in rebellion and sin, and would generally just keep my distance from them.

Now I am learning to see through the eyes of the Holy Spirit.  No longer do I judge by the outward appearance of rebellion or by sinful acts.  I am learning to look past all that, to look deeper into the heart of the person.  I strive to look past everything, all the walls they are putting up, and look for the Jesus in them.

The most loving thing you can do is to let someone know that you see a spark of goodness in them; that you see Jesus in them.  No matter what they “look like” on the outside.

You may be the first or only person that ever conveys that piece of hope to them.

They might not accept the saving Truth of Jesus that you are sharing with them at that time, however, I can promise you, when you are a vessel of the merciful and saving love of Christ, that love will make an impact.

As Christians, let’s start looking past what we see in the physical, and start looking for Jesus in every heart and every situation that we encounter.

 

 

He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.  Ecclesiastes 3:11

But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.  1 Samuel 16:7

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  1 Cor 3:16