Have you ever stopped to wonder what others thought about you?

Maybe about what they see in you when they first meet you? What you cultivate…kindness, humility, compassion, or maybe jealousy, anger, bitterness? Whatever other people think about you says a lot about who you really are and the type of person you are to others.

It might be said that what others think of us is not important, but I believe it is. We have to resemble what we believe, both inward and outward. Like they say, “Live what you preach.”

Look at it this way, you can’t be a Christ-loving person full of His grace and love, and also be walking around places with a face full of disappointment and bitterness, judging everyone in your path. We are children of the Highest, of a God full of joy and kindness. Everything we do should resemble that, and people around us should be able to feel that with our mere presence.

It is important to see what others see in us, to re-evaluate who we are and understand it from another perspective. Why? Because we have been placed on this earth in the image of our all-loving Father and our lives should replicate that in every possible way.

Who are you? Are you the person whom everyone avoids due to constant complaining and criticizing others? Maybe you are the person who walks around with sadness and disappointment, constantly bringing people down? What vibe are you spreading to the world around you? What is “who you are” telling others of what God is?

Take the time and ask a fellow person what they perceive when they see and interact with you. As a child of the Heavenly King, it is extremely important to be aware of the type of person you are and the type of things you cultivate in the people surrounding you. As Christ believers and followers of the word of God, we should be the people who uplift others, the ones who spread hope and radiate kindness. We are the people who should be understanding and patient. These are the things God created us to be.

What do you cultivate? Maybe it is time we examine ourselves and see what the world around us sees, and take the time to change that if it is not in line with who God has called us to be.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23, New King James Version)

Christians are already judged by the world and stereotyped; we are thought of as people who constantly judge and criticize, and people who are extremely religious to a fault. There is also the case in which Christians are perceived as “fake,” because some people act one way in a certain place and the completely opposite in another. These stereotypes are completely unfair and wrong, because a true Christ believer is none of the above. The bible very well tells us descriptively the type of person God wants us to be. We are a city on a hill, the hope of this world, spreading the love of the Father to the rest of humanity.

Again, I ask you, who are you? Does your life resemble everything God created us to be? What do you cultivate in the world around you? Who are you at home, at school, at work, at the store? What are your actions telling the world? Let’s see ourselves in a different perspective and change what needs to be changed to always resemble a Child of God.

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” (Colossians 3:12-14, NKJV)

In Another Perspective