Perspective

I saw this little kid as one of great leadership potential.
Another saw him as a negative influence on others.
What great differing opinions.

Perspective

I see that life is about perspective.
What lens are we wearing when we look at things?
Looking at strengths?
Or deficits?

= Quoted from Heartlight =

Looking at Things Differently, by Alan Smith

A teenage boy lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a fruitless search, he told his mother the lens was nowhere to be found. Undaunted, she went outside and in a few minutes returned with the tiny lens in her hand. "How did you manage to find it, Mom?" the teenager asked. "We weren't looking for the same thing," she replied. "You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150."

It is so true that our passion and persistence in doing something will be largely determined by its value in our eyes. For example, evangelism will never be a top priority as long as you see your next-door neighbor as simply a middle-aged guy with a pot belly. When you see him as a
valuable soul whose eternal destiny will be determined by his relationship with God, suddenly things are different.

Do you see your involvement as essential?

If you see your involvement at church as simply cleaning out a baptistry or corralling a herd of 4-year-olds for an hour, you will quickly lose heart. When you see your involvement as an essential element in the building up of the kingdom of God, you will "not lose heart in doing good" (Galatians 6:9 NASB).

So, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Colossians 3:2). Looking at earthly things from a heavenly perspective will change the value of things in our mind. And that, in turn, will change how diligently we seek to do the things of God.

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(c) 2007 Alan Smith . Used by
permission. This devotional was reprinted from Thought for the
Day <http://www.TFTD-online.com>.