If you look at my profile picture, you could come to the conclusion that this is a (more or less) attractive, serious man in his mid-60s. What the profile picture doesn't show are my tattoos. Arms and legs covered with rather amateurish images. And if you then take a closer look at my face, you can see the crooked nose and the scars on both eyebrows. So you could say that my appearance tells a story. And even if I don't say a word about myself, everyone who looks at me has their own interpretation of my life story in their head. Man sees what is in front of the eyes, but God sees the heart. That's what the Bible says in the first book of Samuel. This sentence is part of a story that tells how David, as the youngest and most inconspicuous son of a shepherd, is anointed king of Israel. And that despite the fact that his strong and handsome brothers would have made themselves much better than kings on the outside. But the choice of God is not based on external things, but on a look into the heart, into the innermost being of man. God sees the heart. Man sees what is in front of his eyes. Today, thanks to technology, it is very easy to have people in mind. No matter how far away they are or what they are doing. With the help of technology, I can see the other person wherever I am. And that within seconds, but God looks into the heart. This means that God does not care how beautiful, how strong, how popular or how successful a person is. God sees within man and treasures it. God doesn't care about the outside. It says as little as a beautified portrait. God looks at the heart and thus at what really makes us human. He looks at us lovingly - you and me - whether king or not. He knows me. The way I am. I don't have to and can't embellish anything in front of him. I don't have to and can't hide anything from him. That gives me strength and joy every new day. But we live in this world and our visible counterpart is man. And he sees me through his individual glasses. And often the image that other people have of me, and I of them, is distorted. And doesn't correspond to reality. And because I know how it feels to be excluded, I've been trying to approach others with an open mind for a long time. Try to hide the first external impression. To accept others as I wish to be accepted by others. And the more often I try to act like this, the easier it becomes for me. I often wish that I could see the heart of my counterpart with God's eyes. What about you? Are you looking at the outside or are you trying to look deeper?
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