What Do You See? by Christine Cain

I will never forget one of my afternoon lectures in my Psychology 101 class at Sydney University. The professor projected a picture of a small black dot in the middle of a very big white screen. He asked us, “What do you see?”

Every student immediately responded to his question, “A black dot.” He paused for a while, and then asked again, “What do you see?”

The entire class failed to see the big white space around the dot! Our eyes naturally focused on the black dot, and it took much concentration to focus on the white space!

The same is true in our lives, and that’s why it is essential that we renew our minds so we can see the bigger picture. The more we focus on God and magnify Him in our lives, the smaller the black dot will become.

And so I ask you the same question as my professor did that day: what do you see?

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2 NKJV).

Ask God for His perspective, His vision and His eyes today!

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Have you ever found yourself deeply offended by someone? Maybe you had a family member or friend betray you, and your immediate reaction to want to enact revenge? I’m sure all of us at some point or another have wanted to get someone back for their offense, but what does Jesus say about this?

Read Matthew 18:23-34

It’s easy to look at the man in Jesus’ story and think, “Wow, I can’t believe he had so much debt erased and still wouldn’t give someone else a break.” But Jesus is saying it works the same way for us. When someone hurts us, in our minds, they owe us. The worse their offense, the more they owe, and the more right we have to make them pay.

But what we’re missing is that we also owe Someone. Our sin, all of the stuff we’ve done wrong, it’s like owing someone an amount we could never pay.

When we add up…

• Every lie we’ve told
• Every bad thought we’ve had
• Every time we’ve treated God like He didn’t matter
• Every hurtful thing we’ve done or said to our friends or family
• Every. Single. Sin. Ever.

It’s a huge amount. But it was forgiven when Jesus took our punishment on the Cross.

And when we think about the fact that our debt was canceled, it’s hard to imagine forcing someone else to pay for what they did to us, even if it felt like a big deal at the time. So before you pay back, remember you were paid for.

If today you find yourself, even in small, subtle ways, trying to pay someone back who hurt you, then let today be the day that you begin again. Choose to follow Jesus’ example and forgive.