Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-7
How do you decide how valuable a person is? If a person owns his or her own car, does he or she go up on your scale? Does a person have to wear a certain name on his or her jeans to make it onto
your “A” list? Does a person have to live in a certain part of town to be included in your social activities?
Imagine the shock and surprise when Jesus spoke to a woman from “the wrong side of town.” Imagine the amazement when Jesus ate with men who were considered to be the scum of the earth, the tax collectors. Imagine the heads shaking when Jesus touched a leper!
First Samuel 16:7b says, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Jesus didn’t determine a person’s value by what he or she owned or where he or she lived. Instead, Jesus looks at the inside, the heart, of a person. He looks as that person’s desire to please and honor the Heavenly Father by showing love to other people.
I encourage you to get past the outside, follow Jesus’ example, and determine a person’s value by what is on the inside.
“Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” John 7:24
Prayer: Heavenly Father, open my eyes to the things that make a person truly valuable. In Jesus’ name. Amen.