When I saw the Five Minute Friday prompt word 'view', I immediately thought of the great views where I'm staying this week, in my oldest daughter's neck of the woods.
But then the Lord reminded me of what He's been teaching me lately about viewpoints.
How we view someone will determine how we love them or if we will love them at all.
I recently asked the Lord to show me how to love a particular person in a healthy way cause everything I've tried so far hasn't worked.
I've pitied them or been fearful of them.
I've felt inferior or superior. My view of myself and of them has been shaped by many things (lies, trauma, abuse, failure, rejection, judgement, shame, insecurity, disappointment, grief, unforgiveness, etc).
He said to me, "You can't love them properly until you view them properly."
Pity and fear aren't love.
Where I've felt sorry for them, it's because I've viewed them from higher up.
Where I've been fearful of them, it's because I've viewed them from lower down.
He went on to say, "When you look at them, look across - not down, not up, just across.
And you need to view them through the two lenses of truth and grace."
Imagine if you wore glasses where one lense magnified things differently to the other.
Well, some of us have to because one eye is stronger than the other and glasses are prescribed to correct that imbalance.
But imagine if your optometrist deliberately gave you glasses that created an imbalance. That would potentially be disastrous.
Many of us function with that imbalance in our relationships - because of how we view ourselves and the people in our lives - and it's often disastrous.
We see the truth of the situation and make judgements without grace.
Or we don't want to see the truth and give endless grace without acknowledging reality.
Jesus wore both lenses when He viewed people. He came full of grace and truth.
For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17
He could have looked down on everyone. He had a right to. But He calls us friends if we'll come to Him in humility.
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15
True friends look across - not down, not up and not away.
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Philippians 2:1-2
In Jesus, mercy and truth are met together.
I need to wear HIS glasses to view myself and others properly in order to love them well.
These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:17
And where there is an imbalance in my view of things, I need to allow Him to correct it, correct me, so that my view is correct.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding..... Ps 32:8-9
This beautiful old hymn, sung by Celtic Worship, is a great reminder that He needs to be my vision, the source of my view.
Be Thou my vision, oh Lord of my heartNaught be all else to me, save that Thou artThou my best thought by day or by nightWaking or sleeping, Thou presence my light…
I just got hung up on that first paragraph...
ReplyDeleteNeck of the woods, a common phrase,
but I wonder, how the heck
can it mean just what it says;
how can forest have a neck?
And then they say a crescent moon's
edge is called its limb,
which really makes me want to swoon
from literary sin,
for how can giant spinning rock
out in the depths of space
be granted this strange kind of talk
like member of the human race?
And topping this, I'll say goodbye
with 'apple' of noneating eye.
So many personifications, Andrew. Great poem! I'm sorry my 'neck of the woods' phrase got you hung up. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI love how you combined viewpoint with getting the proper prescription from an optometrist. FMF #11
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Barb. It's a concept that's stuck with me this week as I interact with people. It's quite challenging and life-changing.
DeleteGood food for thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
It's making me think and re-think this week too, Sandra. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteThanks for this view of you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement, Ariel.
DeleteBalanced vision because of balanced lenses - viewing others as God views them! Great post, thanks
ReplyDeleteJust stopped by from FMF #29
Thanks for stopping by, Heather. I'm finding that God is constantly correcting my imbalances. Didn't realise how out of balance my view was.
DeleteI defnitely need Him to constantly adjust my view - of myself and of others. To see both through His eyes. Thanks for your thoughts/wisdom here!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by, Jennifer. I'm finding it incredibly challenging and helpful to think about how I view others and myself.
Delete