This is a blog about my discipleship journey. (I'm just starting out.) Over the last year and especially the last few months, God has been doing a major work on me. The result is that I have developed a major heart for people in, of all places, my hometown. Who woulda thought? Well, God would, apparently. After being a comfortable Christian for decades, He finally cracked through my comfort zone. Now I have all these thoughts in my head and need somewhere to go with them so……the birth of the blog!
I have all the usual anxieties about sharing my faith: “What if they ask me a question I don’t have an answer for?” “How do I turn a conversation into a spiritual direction?” “What if they tune me out – or worse?” “What if they’re open? What do I do next?” And I believed I had to have all the answers before I could talk to anyone. Then I thought, “If being a disciple means becoming more and more like Jesus, maybe I should start by seeing people as He did.”
I once read that the most important person to Jesus was the person right in front Him. So I thought I’d start there. When I was running errands yesterday I decided to look at people through Jesus’ eyes – with incredible love and compassion. That meant that when I passed someone in the aisle, I needed to look them in the eyes and smile, not keep scanning the shelves for BBQ sauce or toss a quick “Hi, how are ya?” their way. Let me tell you, it made grocery shopping an entirely different experience. By the time I checked out and was heading to the car, my heart was filled with compassion for every person I saw. Because I saw them. I didn’t stay in my comfort zone. I tried to make their zone more comfortable.
Try it. This week try seeing others through Jesus’ eyes. It will rock your world. It did mine.
