Mistakes happen. It’s part of life. Since we were young, we seemed to be plagued by mistakes. It seems like it’s in our nature to just keep on doing wrong, keep on falling, keep on committing mistakes. And we learn from it – that’s why we say that ‘experience is the best teacher’.

It’s been a while since I last wrote an entry. Have been through a whirlwind of activities lately- went scuba diving, had a bunch of client meetings, birthday celebrations, etc… (and it’s not yet over, too). God is really pushing me to get out there and get to work!

Mistakes make us remember

We are taught by our parents, we are taught in school, we are taught by our mentors in church. But even so, there are a handful of times in our lives when we sway away from their advices and wisdom and we commit mistakes that we were warned and taught about. And then we learn AFTER we’ve experienced the fall. We learn AFTER we’ve been through the consequences. We learn AFTER we’ve made the wrong choice.

And then regret comes in.

Then we learn. Then we try our very best not to do it again. There is a resolve that stirs us. It backs our learning. It reminds us of our mistake.

It reminds us of what we’ve lost.

Costs become visible

We learn almost in an instant from mistakes. Stubbornness and pride suddenly seems out of the picture. Why?

Because mistakes help us realize the cost.

I usually drive around even if I’m not familiar with the place. Then I get lost. And I make turns here and there and I ask around for directions. It’s a big learning experience when you make a wrong turn – especially when it takes you to the expressway and you need to pay the highly unreasonable toll.

Right there and then, you know the cost of your mistake. Firstly, I paid money for the toll. Secondly, I wasted expensive and oh-so-precious gas. Thirdly, I wasted time – valuable time which can never be brought back.

After every getting-lost-on-the-road experiences, I usually never forget how to get to a certain place anymore. Yes, mistakes can definitely be a great teacher. But when given a choice, I’d rather not. Why?

Because there is no rewind button. You can’t undo time. You can’t undo the damage you can cause another person. Mistakes often affect you and individuals around you. Yes, wisdom and learning is better than gold. That’s why you have to take it from the experiences of others and the Word of God. You don’t have to go through all the mistakes to gain wisdom.

All you need is an understanding heart on how you are going to apply the mistakes of others in your life. It’s not easy. That’s why you need God. Pray for wisdom and let God guide you.

Pornography will compete with your future spouse

Pornography is like water – it’s everywhere. These days it is extremely rampant. With just a click, you get instant, free access. But that doesn’t mean you have to drink it. There is someone in your life that will have to compete for your purity when you indulge yourself in pornography. Soft porn, hard porn, whatever – it’s all the same. Pornography is pornography.

When you watch or read pornography, you’re looking at a human being and you are lusting after that person. And the Bible is very serious about lust.

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:28

The Word of God equates lusting after another to adultery

“But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.” – Proverbs 6:32

The Bible does not take pornography very lightly. It ultimately explicitly condemns those who indulge themselves in lust. It provides no room for excuses. No, not even one.

Notice the verse says “Whoever does so destroys himself.” When you indulge yourself in pornography you destroy something in yourself – you batter it and shatter it into pieces. That part of you is your purity – which is one of the greatest treasures you can keep for your future spouse. It is how you can show your love to that special someone even while you have yet to meet.

You might not know it or think about it now but letting yourself indulge in pornography and lose your purity is something that will compete with your future spouse. It will not let your marriage stay pure – it will invade your most intimate moments and will desecrate your sexual union - that which God has called good.

Do not let pornography take control over your discipline and choice. It can very quickly become an addiction which is hard to break. Only with the grace of God are you going to be able to overcome it. Love your future spouse and do not let any competition build up between you and him/her. Consecrate yourself – first to God then for your future husband/wife and he/she will surely love you. And I am completely sure that God will honor you.

A lot of people struggle with worry. It would seem that there are a lot of things that people can worry about these days. Believers and non-believers alike struggle with worry and find it hard to overcome their anxiety. There are certain things that you should know about worry that are taken from the Bible.

Top 5 things to know about worry

These entries have been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

Top 5 reasons why you should not worry

Worry is a murderer

Worry Versus Concern

The roots and causes of Worry

Does worrying about someone mean you care?

We often worry about someone – most probably the people we love and who are dear to us. It’s quite a common thing to get worried when you’re not with that person or when you’ve no idea where that someone is, what that someone is doing, etc. Does worrying about that particular someone mean that you care?

This is the fifth entry on my series about Worry.

My previous entries:

Top 5 reasons why you should not worry

Worry is a murderer

Worry Versus Concern

The roots and causes of Worry

This entry has been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

Worry and care are two different things

Yes, things can go wrong

I’m sure at some point in your life, you’ve experienced worrying about a person, right? It’s not an unusual thing to do to think about what’ might happen to that certain someone when you’re not around. Things can go awry - as ‘Murphy’s law’ endorses it. And there are times that we find ourselves thinking about all the bad things that can go wrong for the person we care about.

So does it mean that when you’re worried about a person, you care for him/her? Hmmm…

There are just some things that you cannot control. And we as human beings, certainly don’t like to be controlled, do we? When you keep on worrying about that person, he/she will just feel that you’re trying to control the situation he/she is in (or is going to be in) and so you’re meddling with his/her life. And oftentimes, it would seem to them that we’re trying to control them. It’s not going to build a healthy relationship.

It spells out one thing for them: “I don’t trust you”

Yup. When we worry about the people we care for, we make them feel that we don’t trust them because we try our best to control their every move. But in reality, it’s not about that.

In reality, worrying about another person spells out: “I don’t trust God”

Because, as my previous entry has already explained, God has claimed control of everything. He has ordained all our days, has ordained all things that has happened, that are happening and that will happen here on Earth.

Worrying about someone doesn’t mean you care. It just means that you don’t trust God enough to just take comfort in His protection and plans. You might not know it, but God loves that other person much more than you do.

Worry is a dangerous thing. And we all know it from the drugs invented and coughed up by our scientists and doctors to counter the detrimental effects of this strange and unnecessary emotion. So what causes worry? Where does it get it’s roots?

It all boils down to your trust in God

This is the fourth entry on my series about Worry.

My previous entries:

Top 5 reasons why you should not worry

Worry is a murderer

Worry Versus Concern

This entry has been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

When you don’t trust the circumstance

It all occurs to us that circumstances hold it’s own will. We sometimes call it fate, we sometimes call it God’s will, and the list goes on. Whatever you call it, circumstances take place in a person’s life – and unless you’re a prophet, you probably won’t be able to tell what would take place in a person’s life in the near future.

We always start out doubting the circumstance if we are not 100% sure. And oftentimes we try to control the factors that determine the outcome of the circumstance that we put ourselves into or else WE WORRY. Right?

When you don’t trust the person

It’s natural for us as human beings to have another person earn our trust. It’s not something that we just give away. Sometimes even if it’s our loved one, we worry. And when we think about it, falls on our trust with the person as well. We sometimes don’t trust that the person would do the right thing or that the person would make it with his or her decisions. This often happens in relationships – family, boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, friends, etc…

When you don’t trust the world – and rightly so

The world has shown us about it’s ups and downs, it’s extent of good and evil, it’s capability of making and breaking lives. And we have learned that the world can be something that can easily make you worry – because whatever you do, wherever you go, to some extent, you are not safe and you cannot control it. That’s life.

It all boils down to When you don’t trust God

But all of these things have one thing in common – one Creator, one Maker, one God who claimed that He is in control over everything. At the end of it all, when all is said and done, it all boils down to your trust in God. If He said that He causes everything to happen, then He does. Remember that verse in the book of Numbers?

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19

So when He says that He is in control, believe Him and trust in Him – everything happens for the purposes of God. If you trust God and know that all things happen for His glory, then why worry?

Two different words – worry and concern. If there’s any difference, why create two separate vocabularies?

Worry and Concern are not friends

These entries have been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

Worry, as we’ve read from my two previous entries for this series, “Top 5 reasons why you should not worry” and “Worry is a murderer”, is not a very friendly emotion to our health – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It is something that eats you up – literally.

So if worry is such a detrimental emotional state of mind, then what much difference does it make with it’s closely synonymous counterpart, concern?

There’s not much difference, really. Concern is just a form of worry with which you can directly affect with your decision of choice. It is a positive state of knowing the matter at hand and being able to do something about it – and doing it.

Concern, according to Dr. Sala “should be a positive force resulting in our enrichment and betterment.” But don’t take it from him, he just got it from the apostle Paul in the Bible.

“so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” - 1 Corinthians 12:25

In one hand we have worry, which gives you nothing but sickness and anxiety, and on the other hand we have concern, which drives you to do something about your knowledge of the current situation – given that you are able to do something about it with a decision of choice.

It’s not much, but that little difference between worry and concern can mean years of life and wisdom for your everyday situations. So choose carefully and make sure that, with God’s help and wisdom, you are able to identify the fine line between worry and concern in the decisions you face in your life.

As you all know, I am doing a series for Worry. This is the second topic about that series and I’m going to talk about one good reason why worry isn’t a good thing to keep in life – because worry is a murderer.

Previous post: Top 5 reasons why you should not worry

These entries have been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

Xanax and friends can only help you so much

Worry can kill. That’s the whole point of this blog entry. It can sap the joy out of you, it can inject stress to your bones and it practically spells out D-E-A-T-H. Literally.

Let’s take a look at some of the anti-worry medicines that science has produced today:

Alprazolam Intensol
Alzapam
Ativan
BuSpar
Centrax
Equanil
Inderal
Inderal-LA
Inderide [CD]
Inderide LA [CD]
Ipran
Klonopin
Lexapro ( Lexaprotm )
Libritabs
Librium
Lipoxide
Loraz
Lorazepam Intensol
Luvox
Meprospan
Miltown
Neuramate
Novo-Alprazol
Romazicon
Paxil
Paxipam
Serax
T-Quil
Tranxene
Tranxene – SD
Tranxene T
Valium
Valrelease
Versed
Xanax

Source: http://psyweb.com/Drughtm/jsp/menus/benzo.jsp

Hmmmmm…. Yeah. Worry can kill you.

All of these drugs for worry? Even if you take one capsule of each of these each day, your liver would suffer and your blood would spell “Xanax-and-friends” all over.

Well, God has a cure for worry. I just want to share it with you guys.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

Anxiety = Worry

Just one medicine for it – prayer. It’s God’s medicine. And it sure as heaven works! How? I cannot explain because it “transcends all understanding” but it’s there. The peace of God is there. You just have to talk to Him about your worries and concerns and He will help you through. BELIEVE IT.

There are a lot of things we can worry about these days. Now worrying has been a trend in our lives. Here are 5 reasons why you should not worry.

This entry has been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

There are so many things we can worry about nowadays

Reason number 1: Worrying is a sin

The Bible explicitly says that worrying is sin because it’s telling God that He can’t handle the problems of your life. It’s having no faith in Him who created you and ordained your days while you were still unformed.

“I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important that food, and the body more important than clothes?” – Matthew 6:25

It is more of a command from Jesus to tell us not to worry. Because God’s hand is in everything.

“Look at the birds of the air they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” – Matthew 6:26

The birds do not worry. Why? Because they know that God will provide for them. They know that God’s hand is in everything. If they are that much cared for by our God, how much more do you think does He care for you and me? We who are worth more than many birds?

I love this verse: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19

If we worry, we are calling God a liar. Plain, simple and explicit. Can it get any more blunt than that?

Reason number 2: Worry eats you up physically

The worry business is booming. Just look at all the drugs and meds popping up and being formulated by chemists and doctors today. There are a lot – from sleeping pills, to anti-anxiety pills, to illegal drugs (I am led to think they’re for worry because they’re usually used to forget problems) to computer games, and all other kinds of stuff that make you forget your problems and let you sleep at night.

Worry is something that eats you up physically. It gives you ulcer due to the anxiety stress. It creates high blood pressure in your veins. It is something that will physically affect you in a way that you don’t want to be affected. Worry is a killer.

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” – Matthew 6:27

Reason number 3: Worry makes you unproductive

Worrying cripples your ability to move and take action. It lets your mind linger to the things that are unnecessary (and often unreal) that the things you have to take care of are left for granted. It will eat up your thoughts. Instead of taking action and planning on how to solve your problem, it will take up the form of ‘what-if’s’ and ‘should have’s’.

Reason number 4: Worry magnifies the problem

Problems are problems. The very nature of us humans is to try and solve them. There will always be problems in life. Bliss is non-existent in a lifetime on Earth. Worry is, by nature, a magnifying glass – for problems. Instead of taking the problem as it is and making the right plans and taking the right steps of action, worrying makes the problem bigger than it is and makes us think and re-think of our course of action to the point that we give up.

Reason number 5: Worrying is useless

What will happen will happen. Often times we can do something about it. Worrying does  nothing about anything and is, in the end, useless. So why worry?

Gold is one of the most precious metals in our world today. The reason being it naturally lasts forever. The strongest acids could barely affect it and it does not tarnish. Another reason is that gold is very hard to come about. So why is your life a gold refinery?

God won't let you stay as unrefined gold

Gold is very hard to find. Mining gold is no joke. People have shed blood and lives have been given and taken to find and harvest gold. And when gold is found, it is then refined. Why? Because unrefined gold doesn’t shine the real glory the way that purified gold does. But how do we purify gold?

Gold is a hard, solid substance, if you don’t heat it up to a certain degree, the impurities concealed inside it won’t show up. You have to let it go through the fire in order for you to refine it. Otherwise, you cannot extract it because of it’s solid nature.

It’s the same with your life. Christianity can only develop when it goes through the fire. A little heat and we tend to draw back. We have to realize that the heat is needed for us to see the impurities hidden inside our solid sinful nature. God uses the fire to break the flesh and when the flesh is broken, it gives way to show what we need to put away and then that’s the time we shine God’s glory contained in us.

We have to realize that the fire is needed. Oftentimes we ask God to quench it when all we should be asking is for Him to help us see the impurities and to change. It’s not about the fire and the pain, it’s about taking away the impurities to shine God’s light in your life.

Gold is so hard to find and is so precious in God’s sight. It’s the same for us. He loves us so much to let us stay unrefined. He wants us to reflect His image – and gold can only reflect an image clearly when all the impurities have been swept away. Your life is a gold refinery. Let God refine you.

We have heard the phrase ‘God loves you’ so many times before. What does it really mean? How exactly does God love us? Read on as I try to simplify it in 5 simple points.

The mirror shows but a reflection

First, there is the sinful nature of man

There is something in us that always leans on that something which we know by law or conscience is forbidden. It is called the sinful nature. We genuinely want to work and earn our money honestly but that doesn’t mean we are exempt from greed. Something in us will always say that the forbidden is good and pleasing. How did it get there? The Bible tells us it happened the moment we disobeyed God by not trusting Him – sin entered into the hearts of men.

Then there was the law

Ever woke up and saw yourself in the mirror? You always look horrible in the morning right? It’s natural. You get frizzy hair, a morning star or two in your eyes, drooping eye bags and an oily complexion to boot! My point is, it’s natural to look bad every morning and the mirror shows you that.

God’s law is a mirror. It shows us that we are naturally sinful and that nothing we can do can take that away. Nothing we can do can save ourselves from the wages of sin which is the second death. We can try so hard to obey the law and be a better looking person in the mirror but we can’t. So what now?

God chose us

Why did God choose us? I have no idea. What I do know is that we are definitely unworthy of His love. What did we do to deserve His love? Nothing. Can you see the grace of it all? Love is a choice and God chose us. There is no proper explanation of it, but that’s what makes it real love. There is no explanation.

He died for us to bring us back to Him

The justice of God demands sacrifice. Blood signifies life. It is written “Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness.” Life must be taken in order for a life to be forgiven. It is God’s nature to be just but it is also His nature to be loving. God does not want us to be eternally separated from Him in hell so what did He do?

God sent His Son, who is God altogether, into the world to die for us. His blood justified our forgiveness before God and His body beaten and bruised for us satisfied God’s judgment of our sins against Him. There could have been no other sacrifice which would satisfy His anger against our sins than Himself.

So what now? – All He asks in return for His love is for us to accept the truth about it

Romans 10:9 says “That if you confess with our mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

All God asks of us is that we accept the truth about what He has done for us. Accept that truth in your life, knowing it in your mind, feeling it with your heart – having it inside your very being then YOU WILL BE SAVED. Can it get any simpler than that?

God’s love is an invitation. If you do not accept it, it will not be yours. His love is salvation acted out through His Son, Jesus Christ. Accept Him into your life as your personal Lord and Savior and I assure you, as it is written “You will be saved.”

We Christians can make good, diligent, disciplined, responsible and godly disciples. In fact we make such good disciples in church don’t we? But I say those disciples you make in church only reveal part of you. How do you reveal the real discipler in you?

What your children will grow up to be reveals the real discipler in you

Jesus was a real discipler

Jesus did not have anything to teach with but His heart. He did not have a curriculum, he did not have any materials, he did not have a place to lecture. But was he a teacher? Yes. Was he a mentor? Yes. Was He a discipler? In every way – YES! So what made Jesus a real discipler?

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

– Matthew 4:19

And that is exactly how Jesus disciples. He leads them and makes them follow Him. It’s not the amount of lessons taught, it’s the amount of following done by the disciples and the amount of leading by the discipler.

Family brings out the real discipler

If you are a parent, your kids are your best disciples. Have you ever thought of that? They follow you wherever ,whenever, whatever. What they see, they’ll probably do especially from their parents. Your kids are your best disciples whether you realize it or not. Chances are, the Devil won’t let your best disciples have the best relationship with you because he doesn’t want problems for himself.

You can be a good discipler, even the best in church. But what your kids will grow up to will reveal the real discipler in you.

For the youth, your younger brother or younger sister is your best disciple. And what they will grow up to says a lot about you as a discipler.

For the ones without siblings, your closest and best friend will be your best disciple.

Anyone can learn from everyone if they so let themselves – to gain wisdom. Believe it or not, your parents learn from you sometimes. You can be able to disciple them in some way. Wisdom is not dictated by age but by the Word of God.

There are so many ways when we make God comfortable to us. We make Him a genie, we make Him someone who’s thoroughly kind, forgetting His competitive and just nature. We make God something He is not just so we would feel comfortable with Him. There are 3 ways and mindsets that we make God comfortable for us.

We get too comfortable with God

The ‘God wants what’s best for me.’ mindset

Yes God does want what’s best for you but that must not be the focus! He wants what’s best for you but not before His glory. Often times we put the period in ‘He wants what’s best for us’ – we don’t realize that He prioritizes His glory over our idea of ‘best for us’.

This mindset is dangerous because it centralizes God on us. It makes us think that we are so important that God is mindful of the things that are best for us when in fact, His glory is more important and He is God.

The ‘God loves me so much!’ Mindset

Yes God loves us so much to let His son die for us and to save us. That’s true! That’s why He doesn’t let you stay as who you are in this life. God loves us so much that He has to punish us when we sin against Him and He has to mold us in character whenever we stray away from the likeness of Jesus in our lives.

Putting the period on ‘God loves us so much’ is dangerous because, again, it makes God revolve around us when in fact everything is for His glory and purpose. Him loving you and changing you into the likeness of Jesus is so that He will be glorified in this world and in your life.

The ‘God wants me to be successful’ Mindset

Yes indeed God wants us to be successful! This statement is true! The question is, successful in what way? We have our own definition of success in this world and God has His own. Who’s definition does He follow? You guessed it.

Success in God’s term is to becoming more and more like Him – giving Him glory in your life. That is success for God. That is His definition of a “Good and faithful servant”. Putting the period on ‘God wants me to be successful’ is dangerous – because once your life is going downhill as far as this world is concerned, you will start doubting that God wants you to be successful in the first place.

It’s all in the mind

It’s your perspective of God that will change your life. Sometimes we say ‘it’s all about God’ but we don’t really know what that phrase means until we realize that this life we’re living doesn’t have to be good in order for God to be there.

In this life, God has given me more than enough time to plan ahead and to make use of my time wisely. I’m now 21 years old and the years have passed by and my chances and choices have bubbled up in those 21 long years. I have been living on Earth for quite some time now. When I get to heaven, I’ll be sure to ask God questions and I’ll be sure to talk with Him and tell Him my story about life if He wants me to. But there’s something I would never want to tell God, or even mention in front of Him.

Regret in light of God is eternal

“I thought we had more time.”

I watched 2012 and heard this phrase from Adrian Helmsley when he was analyzing how soon the Earth would reshape itself. It made me think. What if that was me? The Earth will surely come to pass  as it is prophesied in the bible – and I would surely come to pass. My time on Earth is temporary and slowly fading away. Every second, I die. Am I using those seconds to give life?

Jesus said that His coming would be unexpected “Behold, I am coming quickly.” I do not know the day or hour when my master will come. But when He does, I want to be prepared – glad of His coming. I do not want to be regretful and say, “I thought, we had more time.”

My mission is to change lives. My calling – to change the world. I am God’s son, a prince of His realm. I am called to go and preach His word. I HAVE TIME NOW. I’m going to do everything I can so that I can tell God, “I did my job, I made use of my time, My Lord, I am victorious in the battle you sent me to fight.”

I’ve been a Christian since I can remember and one thing that passed by my lifestyle is the Gospel. There was a point in my life where I thought “the Gospel is for the people who don’t know about Christ.” I couldn’t be more wrong.

Living life isn’t easy and I tried my best to know more about God everyday but I didn’t make the Gospel a part of my life anymore – why? Because I thought I didn’t need it because I was already saved.

Then I realized that only though the Gospel can there be forgiveness of sins. Only through remembering Christ and what He did for me can there be righteousness by faith and only through the Gospel can I realize that I am fully cleansed of all sin and the guilt is lifted.

Guilt is a design implemented by God in us. It is supposed to be a good thing – something that would bring us into repentance and back to God. But the devil is very clever and his schemes of malice has twisted guilt into something that is dreadful to Christians. It has become a burden that weighs too heavy to a believer. Satan has made guilt a very powerful tool at his disposal. How was this possible?

Because people (yes even Christians) have given the Gospel little power in their lives. The moment you think that the Gospel “is only for unbelievers” then it loses authority and power in your life. It has become little more than a ticket for you to get to heaven – a ticket you can share to other people for them to get to heaven too.

In truth, the Gospel is God’s ultimate display of forgiveness, mercy, grace and love. It must never be taken for granted even when you are already saved, even when you are already living with Jesus as your Lord, the Gospel is the foundation of it all and it is the key to taking away guilt in your life.

That’s why we remember Christ and what He did for us every communion in Church. But why wait for communion? Every time you eat or drink or sleep, remember Christ, our Messiah. Remember what He had to go through for you. It is the greatest thing that has ever happened to our world that the Son of God should die for the people who has forsaken Him. The Gospel of Christ is the most important part of your Christian life – it’s where it all started. Remember it.

Only the love of Jesus displayed to us through the Gospel can help us remember that guilt has already no hold on us the moment we repent and tell God “I remember you. Save me”

By: Austin Takahashi

If you’ve ever ridden a jeepney before in your life, I believe you’d recognize the spot behind the passenger’s seat of a jeepney. It’s where a person with a large baggage would usually sit so other passengers wouldn’t have a hard time getting off of the vehicle.

Pinoy Jeepney

There was a woman, probably in her mid-20’s, who was wearing a pink shirt. She was average-looking: dark-skinned, not to tall, you know, the usual. Next to her was this dude who was a bit younger. He was wearing fashionable clothes and was good-looking. For about 20 minutes, the guy wouldn’t stop sneezing.

I noticed that the woman was looking for something in her bag. She got a small pack of tissue and offered some to the guy to help him with his cold. The guy whispered “No, thank you” without even looking at her. The lady puts the pack of tissues back in her bag and minds her own business.

I know that story isn’t even close to the story of “The Good Samaritan”, but from that incident, I was able to discover some things about myself. You see, I like to look at strangers and “analyze” them when I’m by myself in public. Mostly, I do this to make myself feel better by simply choosing to see what’s negative about them.

By seeing someone else’s faults I forget about mine. When I see someone smoking, I feel holy because I don’t smoke. When I see a classmate’s test score that’s lower than mine, I am relieved knowing I am not the worst. When I turn on the news and hear of a person murdering his family, I feel that I am a good person because I don’t commit murder.

And then I realize that when I just focus on all the bad stuff in this world, I lose faith in transformation, and I get that, “What’s the point?” feeling. Seeing that woman do that selfless act of kindness made me see that my problem isn’t with people, it’s with my own point of view and how I choose to use them.

I have been looking at people through my sinful, imperfect eyes that are full of pride and judgment, when I know that I should be looking at people through the eyes of God: full of grace and love. My eyes have caused me to deceive myself and develop a hate for people by simply taking a look at them – how they act, talk, think, feel and otherwise.

However, the eyes of God see flaws with love and compassion. And those who choose to live through His Word, through His perspective of people. Through His eyes we’ll see people that are blinded by sin and are in need of a Savior who can take it away. Pride is a dangerous thing. A proud person is so busy at looking at those below him, he fails to see who’s above him. So if you’ve never ridden a good, old-fashioned, Filipino jeepney, try it – it may do you some good.