The way we see things impacts our attitudes and actions. If a sidewalk looks icy, we take different steps than when it is not. If we disapprove of what we hear about a political candidate, we will not vote for him or her. If we’re convinced someone likes or dislikes us very much, we read additional meaning into their words and actions.
But treating one another properly depends entirely on seeing people as they truly are: as sinners struggling through life and in need of grace. That is how God sees each of us.
Evangelical Christian author and speaker Stuart Briscoe, in a talk about dealing with difficult people, says that if we see those people not as the enemy, but as people whose hearts are in the clutches of the enemy, it will make all the difference. Then we’ll find we can respond to them with grace and compassion instead of hostility. After all, isn’t that how God deals with us even as we sin against Him? Try to see those around you through the eyes of God’s grace. It may make a world of difference.