A friend of mine once told me about a time where God was teaching him to see people not merely as they appear but as God sees them. One day, he was sitting at a table next to a young, attractive girl. Suddenly, his mind began to wander, and he began to entertain lustful thoughts about this young lady. The Lord said to him, “Stop seeing her as an object of pleasure, and see her as I see her.” It was easier to just keep daydreaming.
When the event was over, and she left the table, he noticed something horrifying. This young woman had a horrendous limp, her back was hunched over, as though she had some crippling disease such as spina bifida. Her entire body jolted with each step. It was so severe that if we were to see her walking down the street, we wouldn’t notice her beautiful features. We would only notice her deformity. My friend admits that upon seeing this, he felt sick to his stomach. The feelings of lust quickly turned to compassion. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered to the Lord. “Had I seen her from your eyes, I would have had compassion on her immediately.”
We have spent many weeks on this topic of intimacy with God. We began by seeing God – meditating on the very person and presence of the Lord. Then we turned our attention to how that relates to us. We looked at deep theological principles such as the indwelling presence of God in our lives. We talked about transforming our mind to not just perceive the physical world around us but the presence of I AM in the present moment. Now, we take those principles and apply them to seeing what God sees in other people.
How often have we just looked right past people – at a stoplight, at work, at a cash register? How often have we thought something ill of another person? “I can’t stand that person because of ___.” We can’t seem to get past our bias of the person, whether it’s their appearance, mannerisms, or tone. Satan is a master at distraction. He gets us to forget that people are image bearers of God and instead focus on that one little thing that annoys us. Pretty soon, we have reduced a human being into that one tiny aspect. Without even realizing it, that one little thought blows up into full bitterness… or on the other extreme – total lust.
Often times we struggle to see how God sees others because we have an improper or underdeveloped understanding of the way God sees us. God’s love doesn’t depend on us being perfect, having perfect theology, having a beautiful appearance, or being free from quirkiness. God loves me and you unconditionally. When that becomes our life theology, we are better equipped to love others.
So, how do we see what God sees in others? First, I think some of the same principles apply in regards to prayer and meditation. We need to surrender our mind to the Lord. “Jesus, show me where you are in this person’s life. Show me how you see them.” It may be helpful to bring certain verses to mind – “God so loved this person that He gave His one and only Son for them.” One thing I like to do is to picture Jesus standing over them. Instead of seeing that person as an object or an obstacle, I begin to see them as a fellow brother or sister.
When we allow our minds to see what God sees in others, we shouldn’t be surprised when He reveals something about that person to us. So many times someone has come up to me and said, “Justin, I see the Lord doing this or that in your life. I feel like He wants me to tell you this.” So often they have been timely words of encouragement.
Today as you walk down the halls of your work, sit in traffic, spend time with your family, or if someone does something that rubs you the wrong way, stop for a minute and say, “God, show me how you see this person. Show me just how much you love them.” Watch how quickly your heart changes. You’ll not only begin to see them as God sees them, you’ll begin to love them as yourself.