1 Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
In the 2nd book of Romans Paul opens with this bold statement: You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else. (Romans 2:1) Ouch! Paul was relaying to his listeners that they had a morally superior attitude. They were self-righteous and if we are not careful, we can be tempted to have that same kind of attitude. I wonder if we’ve ever felt superior to other “less moral” people? I wonder if we’ve ever passed judgement on someone feeling like we’ve been blessed and they haven’t? This attitude or frame of mind is a very slippery slope to tread.
God’s kindness is intended to lead us to repentance, not superiority. He does not show favoritism to people, in other words, He loves the adulterer and the thief just as much as He loves one of His faithful followers. That is a hard concept to swallow, isn’t it, but it is true. Ultimately, spiritual advantages can be helpful but they cannot save us. God is not interested in outward things like church membership, stewardship, legalism. social ranking, family fortune, or family history. 1 Sam 16:7 tells us that He is concerned about our hearts. He desires that our hearts be circumcised, set apart for Him. A heart that is circumcised in faith is the mark of a true believer. He looks at each man and woman through and through, and inventories them by their soundness, their genuineness, their entire character.
In this verse we can see the difference between God's judgement and man's judgement. Man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. Man looks at the face, God on the heart. Man looks on the body. God looks on the soul. God looks through all the motives, and forms a just and impartial judgment from all the substance before Him: man, honestly sees very little; but he forms a hasty, partial, and inferior judgement from the evidence that is only right in front of his eyes.
“Like Samuel, we are too impressed by the things that can be seen with the physical eyes. Consequently we live in a world where physical beauty outranks spiritual depth, where success in business and in church tends to be defined in materialistic terms, and where charisma is prized above character. As a result we are often moved to pick leaders more by the images their managers can create on television than by the character of the person or a candidate’s stand on the issues that really matter. We need, with God’s help, to learn to look upon the inward qualities”. (Kenneth Chafin)
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Dear Lord,
Thank You, Lord, that Your mercies are new every morning. And though we don’t deserve your forgiveness, please forgive us for judging others by superficial means. We realize that You are the Almighty Judge and You don’t need our help. Help us to use our platform as Followers of Jesus Christ to have compassion and understanding of others, not to condemn them. Help us to be merciful and gracious at every opportunity and exemplify You to everyone we come in contact with. Keep us humble and seeking to please You. When we are looked upon to make a decision requiring judgement, help us to see Your will and Your ways in the aspect of the process. We pray that Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
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