While listening to my pastor share the message God had given him recently, my eyes drifted to a verse that I had not noticed before.  This is really a great testimony to the fact that all scripture is revealed by God because I have read all scripture and I never “saw” this verse as I did that day. 
Paul is writing to the Corinthian church.  He is talking with them about being Christ Ambassadors and he says this in 2Corinthians 5:16 (NLT) “So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them.”  Hmmm.  My spirit grabbed that verse and I began to think.

I sure wish the world would evaluate us like God does. This is a skill I want more of in my life, don’t you?  Sometimes I’m like Ouiser Boudreaux in Steel Magnolias, “I’m not as sweet as I used to be”. When I get angry, or moody, or grumpy, or have a bad attitude, I am glad God knows my heart.  He knows me best, expects the best and then works so patiently with me to help me reach my best.    “But we have this treasure (the light of Jesus Christ) in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)  We are all jars of clay.  Most of us have been cracked and God has glued us back together.  The super glue of the Holy Spirit is wonderful!  I told someone once when her son had made a very unwise decision, “This is something he did, it is not who he is”.  I need to remember this. I don’t want to give the impression that we excuse bad behavior in others but it wouldn’t hurt us to try to give others the benefit of the doubt sometimes. 

Paul goes on to say in 5:17, “What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons.  They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone.  A new life has begun!”  We are not the same.  Although God sees our heart, it would help our witness if we looked a little different from the world.  It would sure make it a lot easier for the world to evaluate us.

Until we meet again…
Live blessed!
Carmen