Let's Take Off the Tiny Red Glasses!

Last week Bryan and I were sitting on the couch when I looked over and saw him wearing a pair of tiny red Barbie doll glasses.  After busting out in laughter, I had to take a picture! 

Over the past week, I've kept thinking about those tiny red glasses. They remind me of how people often "look" at one another. It's easy to stare into someone's life and their circumstances and think we really see them, but we don't. We focus our eyes through a tiny lense and only see bits and pieces of someone's story. And sadly, we are often quick to judge, criticize, and say hurtful things based on what we see through those tiny frames. 

People often like to tell others what they observe about others through those little frames too, and the ones that hear those assumptions often consider it fact, believing whatever was said to be true. But you know, even those who wear glasses on a daily basis so that they can see clearly have to wear different prescriptions. So why would we ever take someone else's word for it when they are looking at things with their own biases, mindsets, past experiences, and influences?

Almost everyone we watch is dealing with things we have no clue about. When we interact with someone, there are tons of things going on in their lives that we are completely unaware of. If we take a moment to consider all that we do not know about another person's life, I think it will help us to to stop peering down at others through narrow lenses, making assumptions about them, sharing those assumptions with others, and criticizing them.

Francis de Sales said, "The business of finding fault is very easy, and that of doing better is very difficult."  I think that is a true observation. It's easy to put on our little red Barbie glasses and peek into someone else's life and think we know all there is to know about them. Then for some unknown reason, we believe we have the right to point out their faults. It's also easy to listen to someone else's observations made while looking through those little lenses and believe it. But as Sales said, it's very difficult to do something better, like praying for that person, encouraging them, being honest with them, putting ourselves in their shoes, or allowing them to see the our own flaws. 

I would bet that most everyone has experienced being watched through those tiny narrow lenses by others. It's an awful feeling, isn't it? Today, I am grateful for the reminder that what people see when they peek into my life (and yours) with their critical eyes and the hurtful things they say, shouldn't be something I take to heart. They don't see us fully. They don't understand all that we have going on or all that God has called us to. What they see is skewed by their on issues, biases, and experiences. And if they choose to speak ill of us to others, and those people believe it without even talking to us, well, that reveals a problem with their heart, not ours.

Today, I have a challenge for us all: Let's take off the tiny red glasses and refuse to look at others with a judgemental eye. Let's take a stand for love and gentleness, and decide to consider all that a person is enduring and balancing instead of assuming we have the right to point out their flaws.

Afterall, Matthew 7:1-2 says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Once again, it all goes back to what I tell my kids every day. 

Treat others the way you want to be treated!

Would you want someone to look down upon you through their tiny red spectacles? 

Tori