5.12.12

John 7:24 Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.

My Thoughts

Here Jesus was taking about the leaders seeing Him as "working" on a Sunday when He healed somebody... If they had looked beneath the surface Jesus was "loving" someone by healing them. The leaders wanted to find fault..so that is what they saw.

So often when we get our feelings hurt it is because we immediately want to justify our feelings so we think the worst of somebody.  When actually our mood is so often why our feelings get hurt by some body's action.  If we stop and think...stop and look beyond the surface... at the intention of the other person from a totally loving, objective standpoint we can see that the intention of the other person was only love... or at the very most there was no intention at all...especially not an intention to hurt us. But we can get so caught up in the justification of our own feelings that we loose site of what actually happened.  Then we become the one that is actually causing "a situation."

God's word tells us to believe the best of others (1 Cor. 12:7).  We should always give people the benefit of the doubt.  We should give the the benefit of believing they only had good intentions toward us.  If we do that we can go about being happy. We also don't cause conflict where there was none until we open our mouths.

If we believe the best in others ...if we look beneath the surface to we can judge correctly.. we could save a lot of hurt feeling... usually being our own!!

Just this morning I was talking to Robby about a situation that was really bothering me!!  My feelings were hurt...and as I talked about it I felt more and more hurt.  I was even getting a bit angry.  Then God said to my heart...think about this person's intentions...this persons personality. I did! Once I did that I saw the whole situation so differently!!  And I...me... I felt much better about that person...and about me. 

It was so funny that I would read this verse today.. just after I had had to stop and look beneath the surface!!  I will now make more of an effort to do that in every situation where I feel even a little hurt or put out!!  I am going to save myself so much grief this way!! I am going to save others some of my grief too!!