LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF LOVE
There is a way of seeing that belongs not to nature, but to grace. The natural eye is sharp to detect faults, swift to magnify offenses, eager to measure and weigh the failures of others. But the eye that has been touched by Christ begins to see differently. It looks not merely at what is before it, but through it, beyond it, and into the deeper realities of the soul. It is the eye of love, and it is born only where Christ has first been beheld.
When our Lord walked among men, He did not see as men see. Where others saw a tax collector, hardened and greedy, He saw a son of Abraham waiting to be called home (Luke 19:5, 9). Where others saw a sinful woman unworthy to be touched, He saw a heart broken open by repentance and ready to be restored (Luke 7:37-48). Where others saw a crowd to be dismissed, He saw sheep without a shepherd, weary and scattered, and His heart was moved toward them (Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34). This is the vision of heaven brought down into a fallen world.
Love does not blind the eyes, as some suppose. Rather, it opens them. It strips away the harsh distortions of pride and self-righteousness, and replaces them with a clarity that is gentle, patient, and enduring. The man who sees through love does not deny sin, but he does not define a person by it. He remembers that grace has rewritten his own story, and so he dares to believe it may yet rewrite another’s.
How quick we are to judge by appearances. A harsh word, a careless act, a visible failure, and we have already formed our verdict. Yet love pauses. Love considers. Love asks what burden lies beneath the surface, what wound has not yet been healed, what longing has gone unmet. It is written that man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). And if we are to walk with the Lord, we must learn to see as He sees.
This kind of sight is not natural to us. It must be learned at the feet of Christ. We must sit long beneath the shadow of His cross, until we understand how we ourselves have been seen. For what did He behold when He looked upon us? Not our righteousness, for we had none. Not our worthiness, for we had strayed far. Yet He loved us still, and gave Himself for us (Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:20). When this truth takes hold of the heart, it begins to reshape the way we look at others.
To see through the eyes of love is to refuse to give up on what grace has not yet finished. It is to hold fast to hope when all evidence seems to deny it. It is to speak truth, yet clothe it in mercy. It is to correct without crushing, and to restore without condemning (Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:15). Such vision is rare, but it is powerful, for it reflects the very heart of God.
Let us then seek this holy sight. Let us ask that our eyes be anointed, that we may behold not only what is, but what may yet be through the working of divine grace (Revelation 3:18). For when we learn to look through the eyes of love, we become instruments in the hands of the Redeemer, channels through which His compassion flows into a wounded world.
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Gracious Lord, open our eyes that we may see as You see. Teach us to behold others through the lens of Your mercy, remembering always the grace that has been shown to us. Let love shape our vision, govern our words, and guide our actions, that we may reflect the beauty of Christ in all we do. Amen.
BDD
