Do You See The Person?

Happy Friday friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day on this absolutely beautiful Friday on the Texas Gulf Coast! What is happiness? Joy? A week on the road, an early Friday morning flight home, running to Landry's elementary school for a Valentine's Party, a lunch date with my Beautiful Bride, hammering out a Happy Friday and then going to Gehrig's baseball game! Yes, these things bring great happiness & joy to my heart!!! :)

Last week our Pastor preached a sermon on loving others. He posed the question; who is better at loving others - the (self)righteous or the sinner? The scripture he read is Luke 7 beginning with 36. The title of the section in most Bibles is, "Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman." Verse 44 says, "Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair." The Pastor then circled back to the "Do you see this woman?"

It was a profound moment for me. The woman was in Simon's house. Simon knew she was a woman "who lived a sinful life." Jesus then asks him, "Do you see this woman?" You see, Simon saw and knew the sin...Did he see the woman?

I thought a lot about this question/thought this week. We are really good at identifying the sin, the failure, the struggle, the challenge however do we take the time to see the person? Seeing or finding the fault is easy, taking the time to see the person - to really see them for who they are - takes work, a lot of work - and love, compassion, mercy & grace. I don't want to just see the sin, to discount anyone for their faults & failures. I want to see the person, to value the person, to demonstrate the love, compassion, mercy & grace that I would like to have demonstrated to me, and you.

This can, will, take a lot of intentional effort on our part. Again, it is easy to see the sin, failure, fault, struggle or challenge. We aren't however looking for easy! We are mining gold - the value, meaning & purpose of everyone's life - no matter the amount of dirt & debris life has piled upon the precious heart & spirit within the person. It is also not easy because hurting people hurt people and there are a whole lot of hurting people in this world. People will be mean, hurtful and they will say & do horrible things. Will we stop with seeing these things or will we challenge ourselves to go deeper, to see the person, not just the act? We are implored to go deeper, to see the person...it is the only way we can truly love them.

So this is my challenge for us this week Friends, to see the person, not just the sin. It will take a pure-heart of love, compassion, mercy & grace. It will take a lot of work - prayer, self-control and intentional thought & action. Let us not be guilty of judging others Friends, let us love them, regardless of their sins just as we want to be loved, regardless of ours. Let us see the person...

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Also, if anyone would like a free copy of my book, "Seven Steps in Determining Your Influence," please email me at the address above and I will email you a free copy.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev