I know you- Or do I?

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You are the girl who we can count on. You are the one who serves in the community and never expects anything in return. You are happily married and you have an amazing relationship with all 6 of your children. You are known as a pillar of strength and courage and posses a great level of self confidence. I know you- or do I?

You are the man who hides in his office all day. You are the one that is cold and cruel. You are stressed out and angry. You are judgmental and hurtful. You are the man that everyone knows as power hungry; you are the one that has no problem gossiping or slandering someone else if it helps you to get ahead. I know you- or do I?

You are the teenager that is drug addicted. You are the one that is sleeping around in the community, and your grades are less than average. You are the one who parents cringe about when they find out that their children are hanging out with you. You are upset and believe that the world is unfair. I know you- or do I?

With every passing day, I am more and more convinced that we think that we know people that in actuality we really don’t know at all. We make assumptions about people, and we listen to what others have to say about people instead of finding out for ourselves.

Why? Is it because we are too busy to take the time to get to know people? Maybe it is because it is easier to hear and believe gossip than to invest in relationships? Or maybe it is because we need someone to direct our own frustrations and disgruntled feelings towards.

I can’t help but think about the woman caught in adultery that we read about in the Bible. The people knew that she was caught in her sin, and wanted to follow the law and stone her to death. Jesus wanted people to see her for more than the sin that she committed. Jesus cared about the person. We can learn many lessons from this particular part of Scripture, but what I am reminded of today is that Jesus wanted people to see that she really wasn’t any different than anyone else standing there. We are all sinners and need God’s grace. I think that if we just took the time to get to know people, (especially our brothers and sisters in Christ), that we would find that the people that we think that we know, and that we think that we don’t like, are really very similar to us.

When we open our eyes and our hearts and we try to be more Christ-like, we start to see things differently.

You are the girl that we can always count on, and you are tired, and need to count on someone else, instead of being counted on. I am sorry; I didn’t know you after all. I assumed that you were fine. I am sorry that I didn’t take the time to come to you.

You are the man who hides in his office all day, and you are having major problems at home, and you are hiding in your office to maintain the boundaries required between work and home life. You are angry and stressed, and you need to vent, but you are the “boss” so you don’t think that you can. I am sorry that I couldn’t see that. I thought that you were just being a jerk. I am sorry that I didn’t take the time to get to know you.

You are the teenager who is drug addicted and sleeping around. What? You aren’t? In fact, you have never even taken a single drink or smoked a single cigarette, and you are committed to saving yourself to marriage? Oh, I am terribly sorry. I believed the gossip that I heard about you, and didn’t take the time to come to you.

I know this is a long blog, and I am sorry if it seems like I am going on and on. It has just been on my heart a lot lately that we are missing something that Jesus wants us to understand. Those people who we think that we know, we very well may not know at all.

While the above people and situations are completely made up, we all know of people and situations just like these in our own lives. We all can do better getting to know people as they truly are, and I am committed to doing just that.