Seeing The Face of God

"Fortunate are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God." - Matthew 5:8

There was a time when I had very low self-esteem. When going out to where there were a lot of people, I had to tell myself that what everyone else thought of me didn't matter. In doing this, I took away from the value of these people. I'm learning from God now that self-esteem shouldn't really matter, in terms of how we see others, but that what matters is that we concern ourselves with how God sees us and sees others, not how I think others view me. In my ignorance, I would try to act proud to boost up my confidence, or I would let my bashfullness take over to the point where I felt everyone was against me. In both circumstances, I needed to take my eyes off of myself and look at others with the love of God, see in them the beauty God sees. When you do this, there is no longer animosity or intimidation because you learn how we are all flawed, yet the same attention God gives you, He gives to all others. Insecurities start to melt away because it's no longer just about ourselves; with the love of God we learn to put others before ourselves since a genuine concern begins to grow in our hearts for them.

Being able to achieve this, for me, is having a pure heart. We'd no longer say, "uhg, I can't stand this person," or, "omg, they're so annoying!," but by working on purifying our hearts from these judgements, prejudices, hate, we learn how to see people as they really are, children of God molded by their environments to be the way they are, for better or for worse. Do this for the Lord, try to see the image of God in everyone, despite how difficult it may be. Only then, putting all evil from our hearts aside, can we see the face of God in others. The same way He resides in you, He resides in all people. In whom have you seen the face of God today?

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, it is with my deepest sincerity that I ask You to open my heart so that I could love everyone as You do. Humble me, purify me so that I could look past my own insecurities and judgements to be able to love others because You exist in them. Give me the honor of seeing Your face in my neighbors. In Your Name we pray, amen.