And after reading an article on avoiding making mental assumptions about people, I realized that the “blank slate” concept is exactly the way God wants us to approach each person we meet, with no expectations or preconceived ideas of what to expect from them… to see them just as they are in that moment, and with Jesus’ eyes of love and compassion.
I had read David Brook’s post this morning on how to greet people… to recognize that “we are all equal on the level of our souls”, and to simply love on them as Jesus would… warmly, and openly eager to love, respect and accept them as they are. Then the love of God can flow through us to them and “write on their souls” the exact words they need to hear at that moment.
How to achieve that absence of appraisal or judgment, however, is the question. Perhaps it begins with a personal cleansing at the start of the day, sort of like a morning shower that washes away the grime of other influences that have come our way and perhaps affected the lens through which we view the world and the people in it.
In my bathroom at the moment there sits a container of drain cleaner, to clear clogs of hair and grime that have stopped the flow of water through the pipes. Sometimes we need a dose of the same spiritually to be the pipeline of God’s grace to others that He intends for us to be.
“Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.”
(Eph 4:2 NCV)
(photo credit: Unsplash/Mike Tinnion)
