Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.  John 7:24

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  1 John 4:11

Imagine meeting someone new.  They may be wearing a name tag.  When you shake their hand, are you looking at the name tag, or at their face?  Now imagine that you have a page of blank name tags at your disposal.  What kind of labels would you write and stick on the people you meet?  “Well-dressed”?  “Funny hair”?  “smart kid”?  “a little odd”?  When you see people, are you focusing on your labels for them, or are you willing to look past the labels to learn who they really are?

Sometime those labels are judgmental; we might either elevate or denigrate those upon whom we stick the labels.  But other times, even when we are not using them to determine value, the labels can still distance us from others.  We think we have them “pegged” and don’t bother to learn more.  Or we assume because they have a different label than we do that we are in different worlds, and we don’t expect to connect with them.

How can we take our eyes off the labels and look up at the faces above them and the hearts behind them?

God, please help me to see with your eyes and your heart.