We go through different seasons of our lives and our view of people sometimes filters through the current season that we’re in.
My husband was in the army and after he deployed his first time, I was in such a tough season that it was really hard not to filter everything through my current circumstances at that time. I remember a lady telling me that her husband was going out of town and she was just telling me how hard it was going to be on her.
The empathetic part of me TOTALLY shut down. I was so annoyed, because I was comparing her situation to mine and it just fell short. Her husband was stateside and wasn’t getting shot at. Honestly, I couldn’t even see what there was for her to complain about! I wasn’t seeing her situation through the eyes of someone who cared about her and loved her. I was seeing it through the filter of my circumstance.
We tend to do this so often. We all start off as baby Christians. None of us have learned EVERYTHING there is to learn! I have a one year old and I have to tell him at least 10 times, NOT to open a cabinet door, and that’s just the first minute! I’m pretty sure his first words were “no-no”! I’m not surprised by how he acts because he’s a baby. That is how he’s supposed to act.
Have you ever asked someone whose kids are grown-ups now, how their kids were as babies? Usually they remember some things, but they don’t quite remember details like someone who currently has a baby.
When we begin to mature as Christians, we can sometimes forget what is was like before we met Jesus or when we first started our relationship with Him. It’s really easy to fall into a critical place, where we’re seeing people through the filter of where we’re at in life and not where they are.
It’s good to always want people to mature and grow, but judgement and criticism aren’t going to bring that person to a higher place, love and kindness will. In our next blog, we will take a closer look at how God sees people.
~Danielle Paden~
My Not So Perfect, Perfect Life Blog
http://danigirl1982.blogspot.com