What do YOU see???

Every year my daughter and I get new a pair of glasses.  She insists that I pick out a fancy pair during these appointments, but I have stuck with the same frame for the past 3 years.  She, on the other hand, likes to choose a couple of frames that usually are, according to her, “fancy.”  At the end of the day, after the kids are in bed I always get a head start on the morning routine which includes packing lunches, getting books bags ready, and so on.  During that time, one element that never gets skipped is holding up her glasses to the light as I ready to clean them.  Invariably, there are thick smudge marks all over her lenses.  I take a special wipe and simply swirl the smudges off, and wha-la!  Clean lenses for her to see the world the next day. 

Can I share a story about the way people see the world with you?  

There was once a wise old man sitting at the gate of an ancient city. A young traveler stopped before entering the city and asked the old man, "What kind of people live in this town?" The wise man answered with a question, "What kind of people were in the town you just came from?"

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"Oh, they were liars and cheats and thugs and drunks, terrible people," the young traveler replied. The old man shook his head, "The people in this town are the same way."

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Later another stranger paused to ask the same question, and again the wise man questioned his questioner, "What kind of people did you just leave?"

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The second traveler answered, "Oh, I left a fine town. The people were good and kind and honest and hardworking." The wise man smiled and said, "The people in this town are the same way."

Author John Maxwell teaches a concept called, The Lens Principle. The basic idea is that you and I are walking around with a pair of invisible glasses on our faces; those lenses will determine how we see the world.  

 

IF you are trusting you will see others as trustworthy.

IF you are critical, you will see others as skeptical. 

There is this powerful short verse in the book of Titus which states, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (Tit. 1:15). This Scripture teaches that the attitude of your heart will determine how you perceive the world.  This is why Zig Ziglar said, “Life is an echo. What you send out, comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you.” 

Is time to get that lens cleaner out?