I believe that the very essence of Christianity is found in loving God and loving others. That's what this is really all about. The rest is filler. No one is perfect. We're all flawed and have sins. We're all broken. All too often I've noticed that it's easy to judge a person when I think I'm better than they are. The truth is, I don't know what it's like to be them. I don't always know how they feel or what they've been through. Jesus met a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Being a Samaritan she was a social outcast. She was also judged and rejected as being immoral. This is because she had been married 5 times and was currently living with a man who wasn't her husband. But Jesus treated her with love and respect. Jesus revealed to her that He knew her story. Then Jesus revealed to her who He was, in spite of the stigma she bore. We then read how she immediately went back to her community and told everyone about Him. Next, the entire community came to hear Jesus speak and many believed on Him. Who was their evanglist? A woman who had been divorced five times and was currently living with a man she wasn't married to.
Jesus looks past our sin, brokenness, and failures. He sees a person of infinite value in every one of us. Christians should look at people the same way.
Jesus went as far as healing the servant of a centurion. If most people understood the typical arrangement between a centurion and their younger servant in ancient times they'd better understand why the centurion deemed himself "unworthy" to have Jesus enter his house. Yet the centurion had faith that Jesus could but speak the word and his servant be healed. Jesus didn't stand yelling at him, "God hates gentile dogs!" Jesus didn't ignore him. No, Jesus commended the centurion for his great faith, spoke the word, and healed the servant. Jesus met the need in the life of a person we'd all most likely not think very highly of.
Sometimes the way we treat other people (and even fellow Christians who are struggling) is pathetic. I want to see and love everyone as being the priceless people they truly are. It's not always easy. However, I think that is what God desires to see in us.
God... give me your eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5AkNqLuVgY&ob=av2n
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