New Seasons – Day 7
Look at one another in love
Um(Imi)bhalo weBhayibheli
EkaJakobe 2
Abazalwane mabangakhethi abantu
2 kwabaseKorinte 5
The Bible teaches that we are not to judge people by their outward appearance, yet we do it so often. People are brainwashed to judge others by the way they look. Society has the habit of valuing people with lots of money and social status higher than those who don’t. Things that make you look good on the outside are of high value to many people. There is also a tendency to judge those who look differently from you, have other lifestyles, or who have less or more money than you do. It is also true that advertising persuades us that success only depends on your outward appearance and your bank account. The world is so obsessed with appearances that it’s become our second nature to judge people by their outward appearance.
The Bible tells us clearly that we are not to use this worldly yardstick to judge one another.
We are careful not to judge people by what they seem to be, though we once judged Christ in that way. Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)
God wants us, who belong to Christ, to be different. We must be like Christ and look inwardly at people’s hearts. That means to look at them with Jesus’ love and not to judge their outward appearance. The world looks with eyes and measures with standards that have no eternal value. If your heart has been set free by Christ and you have been renewed, so too must your judgement be new! Then you see love, joy, peacefulness, patience, kindness, goodness of heart, loyalty, humility and self-control – all the things that make people’s hearts pure and full of love. Train yourself to see other people with God’s eyes of love.
