For Ladies …


Look Up!


Deirdra Miller


While checking out at Costco recently, I chose the line where the mother of one of our daughter’s classmates was working. I greeted her by name and asked about her daughter. The lady laughed as she greeted me, and said that she often forgets to look up and really see whom she is checking out. We chatted a few minutes, but, as I left, I began thinking of how we often go through our lives without looking at those around us. How sad.


If you are like me, you come in contact with dozens of people each day – do we really see them? Are we able to make a positive impact on our co-workers, teachers, volunteers, store clerks, or others? Do we greet them with a sincere smile? Do they feel better after having contact with us? Proverbs 3:27 reminds us to “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in the power of your hand to do so.” We need to show good things to those around us. Ages ago, when I was a Girl Scout, we were taught to leave our campsite in a better condition than we found it. Would it not be great, as a Christian to leave every person with whom we come in contact better than we find them? 


What about our Christian brothers and sisters? When we enter our places of worship, do we really see them, or are we hurrying to our favorite pew? Do we see the young mother who is juggling a toddler and newborn? Do we see the wife of a non-Christian who is trying to be a good example? Do we see the parents of teenagers who fight daily the worldly influences that have invaded our culture? Do we see the “empty-nesters,” the widows, the bereaved that would love some conversation? Do we really see our fellow Christians who struggle daily with the same issues we face? Perhaps we are not taking the time to look up at those who are right in front of us. 


There is a lot to be said about personal contact. In today’s technology-saturated world, we tend to rely on email, text messaging, chat rooms, or other electronic means to communicate. True relationships cannot be built in such a way. So much of communication is lost with these one-dimensional tools, despite the use of emoticons. Jesus spent His ministry making personal contact. The book of John is filled with examples of times when Jesus took the time to really see those in front of Him. Consider the woman at the well, the nobleman’s son, the lame man by the pool at Bethesda, the woman caught in adultery, Lazarus’s resurrection, and his daily walks with his apostles. His personal touch can be read in each of these instances. In Mark 10:46-52 we can read the account of the healing of the blind beggar Bartimaeus. In verse 49, we see that Jesus stood still. Can you not just see Jesus? He stopped what he was doing to spend a moment with someone in need. Even if the technology had existed then, I cannot see Jesus having to stop texting his apostles in order to speak to the woman at the well, or I cannot see him talking on his Bluetooth in a crowd of Jews outside the temple. There is a time and place for technology, but not when it interferes with building a relationship, and standing still. 


“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” Galatians 6:9 & 10. Doing good things is what we are to be about daily – to everyone, but especially to our fellow Christians. Do we even have contact daily with other Christians? Our daily behavior should show others our holiness (1 Peter 1:15), and, as Christian women, we should show others our inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4). These are things we can do daily with whomever we come in contact.


Our daily lives are filled with narrow windows of opportunity to strengthen, teach, and communicate. As we take the time to really see those around us, both in the world and in the church, we can enrich their lives and make our lives better in the process. The works of the Spirit will be evident in us as we share love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to all those around us (Galatians 5:18, 22, 23). 


Take time to look up daily and really see those around you. -105 Blanche Circle, Winchester, VA 22602. tsmdjm@verizon.net


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