Assuming Someone Else's Intentions
Posted in Brandon's Posts, getting your hands dirty, intentions, jesus, perception 0 comments
I have 2 children. One is 2 1/2 and the other is 9 months and they are both awesome.
Its so fun for me to watch the two of them interact. Aaron can't walk yet but he wants to do everything that Noah does. He wants to be everywhere Noah happens to be. So he will crawl around after Noah. He pulls himself up to where Noah is. Sometimes he crawls on top of Noah because (I think) he literally wants to occupy the same physical space as his brother.
Noah has varying opinions on his younger brother. Sometimes he loves him to death, giving him random hugs, kissing him, or calling him to follow. Other times he believes Aaron is out to ruin his life.
He will start calling "help, help...Aaron!" We (my wife and I) rush to find out what is the matter and see that Noah is sitting on the couch and Aaron is just standing the the floor on the other side of the couch. But in Noah's mind, Aaron is out to get him or he wants to take whatever Noah has in his hand.
This made me think about our interactions with other people. I hear so often things like, "Well that person just did that to get attention." or "They don't really care about such and such, they are involved for this or that reason." We pretend we know that intentions of others.
I hear these comments a lot when it comes to our comments about politicians, but it doesn't stop there. We see someone in the neighborhood and we pass judgement.
Everyone on State or Federal assistance is out to work the system.
The guy raising his hands in worship is doing it for attention.
That mega-church doesn't care about the poor or they wouldn't have all that stuff.
All liberals want to run this country into the ground.
All conservatives want to hold this country back from being great.
And it goes on and on! We look at someone's past or even a small part of what they do and what they're involved in and immediately pass judgement about their whole lives. We decide who they are before actually getting to know them.
The Bible lets us know that Jesus could actually know what someone was thinking, or what was in their hearts. We are instructed to be like Jesus but unfortunately we will never be so like him that we can see into someone's heart.
The only way we can even get close to knowing someone's intentions is by actually getting to know them. That's what we should be doing anyway. Instead of standing in a corner and looking down our noses at people (as the Pharisees did), we should be going out and mingling with the broken, those with messed up perceptions, the sinners. We all have a need for Jesus, including them.
Instead of standing back and judging, let's get our hands dirty and mingle. Its a lot harder to make up intentions for somebody when you are showing them love through words and action.
Its so fun for me to watch the two of them interact. Aaron can't walk yet but he wants to do everything that Noah does. He wants to be everywhere Noah happens to be. So he will crawl around after Noah. He pulls himself up to where Noah is. Sometimes he crawls on top of Noah because (I think) he literally wants to occupy the same physical space as his brother.
Noah has varying opinions on his younger brother. Sometimes he loves him to death, giving him random hugs, kissing him, or calling him to follow. Other times he believes Aaron is out to ruin his life.
He will start calling "help, help...Aaron!" We (my wife and I) rush to find out what is the matter and see that Noah is sitting on the couch and Aaron is just standing the the floor on the other side of the couch. But in Noah's mind, Aaron is out to get him or he wants to take whatever Noah has in his hand.
This made me think about our interactions with other people. I hear so often things like, "Well that person just did that to get attention." or "They don't really care about such and such, they are involved for this or that reason." We pretend we know that intentions of others.
I hear these comments a lot when it comes to our comments about politicians, but it doesn't stop there. We see someone in the neighborhood and we pass judgement.
Everyone on State or Federal assistance is out to work the system.
The guy raising his hands in worship is doing it for attention.
That mega-church doesn't care about the poor or they wouldn't have all that stuff.
All liberals want to run this country into the ground.
All conservatives want to hold this country back from being great.
And it goes on and on! We look at someone's past or even a small part of what they do and what they're involved in and immediately pass judgement about their whole lives. We decide who they are before actually getting to know them.
The Bible lets us know that Jesus could actually know what someone was thinking, or what was in their hearts. We are instructed to be like Jesus but unfortunately we will never be so like him that we can see into someone's heart.
The only way we can even get close to knowing someone's intentions is by actually getting to know them. That's what we should be doing anyway. Instead of standing in a corner and looking down our noses at people (as the Pharisees did), we should be going out and mingling with the broken, those with messed up perceptions, the sinners. We all have a need for Jesus, including them.
Instead of standing back and judging, let's get our hands dirty and mingle. Its a lot harder to make up intentions for somebody when you are showing them love through words and action.
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