Let's peel off the labels !

Wednesday January 26, 2022

Let's peel off the labels !

Matthew 16:15 – “And you,” he said to them, “Who do you say I am ?".

There is in this whole passage something very interesting for us today. Jesus first asks his disciples the question : “What do they say about me ?". Then, and probably it was his desire from the start, he asks : “And you, what do you think of me ?". Finally, we see Peter declaring what God thinks of Jesus. This brings us to a reflection that we are going to develop.

What is the number one thing that fuels how we see others ? For many it is the reputation that accompanies this person ! If the disciples had stopped at all the rumors that accompanied Jesus, they would probably have run away : Nazarene casting out demons by Beelzebub, sinner loving the company of drunkards and prostitutes, in short they only came out in their response the best of what was said about Jesus (Matthew 16:14).

What mattered to Jesus was not his "reputation" but what his disciples thought of him, because a deep relationship can only be built on what we feel intimately about the person. Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, makes a beautiful statement about who Jesus really is ! (Matthew 16.16).

We would dare to say that you don't really know someone until you take on God's view of that person ! Reputation is so fluctuating. Imagine Jesus received like a king when he entered Jerusalem and who, a week later, was booed and “crucified” by the same crowd that worshiped him that day. If we take the time to learn to “find out” personalities, the approach is already much safer than rumor, but we so need God to inspire us. It would be so damaging to miss out on a blessed relationship because of a "bad" reputation or a look distorted by our prejudices and our "a priori".

Let's be different ! Let's not let rumours, calumnies, gossip... darken our discernment. Let's not let others think for us but fully trust God who, through our spiritual man, will allow us to judge everything (1 Corinthians 2:15). Let's spend time with people, free from the label that's been put on them, just to get to know them.

Good reflection !

Source (Ezekiel 37 Ministries) https://ez37m.com