Outward Appearances

[346 words] “Oh, how horrible our sins look when they are committed by someone else!” — Chuck Smith. It’s so hard to keep our eyes on ourselves rather than to compare ourselves with others, isn’t it? We CAN be too hard on ourselves as we live in a world where it’s normal to compare ourselves with everyone else. On the flip side, our perception of others can also be distorted by our culture of comparison. We struggle to look at ourselves and others through God’s viewpoint, so we often undervalue ourselves, and judge others too harshly. The book of James hits on this idea in chapter 2 where we find stern warnings about judging by appearances, and are encouraged to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. James wrote: “For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby…