Things are not always what they seem...

I have been so impressed with that thought lately, that men look on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Consider the Matthew Henry commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:7. In my estimation it's talking about the church and how we should labor with one another and be considerate of one another. The poor, the uneducated, the mentally challenged, those who are weak in faith, and I would even say those who may have been "overtaken in a fault" we are to treat with kindness and love. I guess my thought is more of a spinoff from my other post, because after thinking about it I realized that I need the mind of Christ in so many ways. There are so many people being discriminated against and I can't have the victim's mindset always thinking about myself and how I'm being "mistreated" and be blind to my own possibilities of showing partiality. Partiality to whom? The person who dresses the nicest, or has the nicest home or car, or who seems to be most spiritual or popular. You get my drift. Antiways...that's just my thought.

2 Corinthians 10:7 KJV

Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? if any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.

2 Corinthians 10:7 NIV

7You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.

His relation to Christ: If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's, v. 7. It would seem by this that Paul's adversaries boasted of their relation to Christ as his ministers and servants. Now the apostle reasons thus with the Corinthians: "Suppose it to be so, allowing what they say to be true (and let us observe that, in fair arguing, we should allow all that may be reasonably granted, and should not think it impossible but those who differ from us very much may yet belong to Christ, as well as we), allowing them," might the apostle say, "what they boast of, yet they ought also to allow this to us, that we also are Christ's." Note, 1. We must not, by the most charitable allowances we make to others who differ from us, cut ourselves off from Christ, nor deny our relation to him. For, 2. There is room in Christ for many; and those who differ much from one another may yet be one in him. It would help to heal the differences that are among us if we would remember that, how confident soever we may be that we belong to Christ, yet, at the same time, we must allow that those who differ from us may belong to Christ too, and therefore should be treated accordingly. We must not think that we are the people, and that none belong to Christ but ourselves. This we may plead for ourselves, against those who judge us and despise us that, how weak soever we are, yet, as they are Christ's, so are we: we profess the same faith, we walk by the same rule, we build upon the same foundation, and hope for the same inheritance.

Deception...

Human beings, in my estimation, are so very good at treating symptoms and ignoring the bigger picture. We do it with our health, our finances, our spiritual lives, etc... Just take a look at how successful pharmaceautical companies have become in the last two decades. Our body gets worn down and ill because we don't get enough rest, we don't eat the right things, and we don't exercise enough. BUT when our body gets sick (which is the symptom to tell us something is wrong) we take drugs, pills, medicines, pain relievers and so on and so on. Why? Because we aren't interested in letting our body heal. We just want a quick fix to relieve the pain so that we can continue in our bad habits. I believe God, being the intelligent creator that he is, programmed our body to give us hints when it need a rest. Just like our cars give us signals when they need maintenance, so does our bodies. A headache, a stomach ache, a pain here and there is usually indicative of a more serious issue. Usually the issue can be rectified by rest and giving the body sufficient time to go through it's natural healing process. Our bodies can be healed through changing our live habits by eating right and exercising. Making life changes is what will help us to live healthier lives; taking medicines will only ease the pain for a while, but it cannot HEAL our bodies. And even in taking medicines and prescribed drugs usually the side affects are so extreme, you wonder if the side affects will cause you more discomfort than the actual pain or issue you are currently experiencing. But, we, as members of the human race, do not like to be inconvenienced in the least bit. We'd rather cover the symptoms than to take time and make the changes to be healed. So sad. So, my little tirade really isn't about living healthy as much as it is about setting the stage to prove how we think. I believe how we treat our body epitomizes how we treat just about everything else in life. What really got me going was an article I read about a certain comedian who hurled racial slurs at inviduals in an audience recently. It's so sad that as a country we seem to think that passing a few laws, moving legislation would really be enough to change the hearts of ignorant, misinformed, malicious, hardened individuals who refuse to acknowledge that a man's (or woman's) character TRULY is NOT based on the color of their skin. Not that I am not glad for legislation that has been passed, or that I am ungrateful for the sacrifices that have been made that allows me, an opportunity to receive education and career opportunities that 50 years ago would been difficult and perhaps impossible for me to reach (Civil Rights Act of 1964). I realize though that it was GOD's mercy that allowed me and my family, the generations before me, to overcome various obstacles and arrive to the land we hold today. I realize that it is because of HIS mercy that we (myself and my family members) were not consumed. It's pretty amazing that the great-grandaughter of slaves is able to go to college and able to hold a professional position that demands respect and dignity. But what I am saying is that the legislation passed did little to address the serious illness that plagues the hearts of people throughout America. Racial hatred and bigotry is SIN and is wrong in God's eyes. I don't care who it is, how rich they are, white, black, hispanic, asian, NOONE is exempt. It really makes me angry when I read articles about some public person using their position (or abusing in many cases) to air their bigotry. I hate that people are so in their closed/sealed houses and so ignorant of other people that they readily accept thoughts and opinions about an ENTIRE group of people just based on one or two people they have met. I am no longer surprised when it happens though. From time to time you'll here people say, "I can't believe that in 2006 things like....still happen..." Well, I can believe it and it saddems me. Not until people make a conscience choice to change their hearts and look beyond what they see with their eyes will we ever break down walls.

I know i've been in several instances where I've felt like a person of a different race saw only one thing, "my skin color". And it makes me kind of sad, because I think to myself, "If they could only see beyond that, they'll find out that there's so much more to me than meets the eye." We did this exercise one time in college where we had to write down how we would describe ourselves, more or less, write a list of ways to describe who we are. And I realized that I can come up with so many things on my list that I could share with others of different races and different ethnic backgrounds. If we would only give each other a chance...

Ok, i put up my soapbox...