Most of us have heard the expression “nobody is perfect.” Yet Jesus gave us the command to “be perfect.” He made it even more precise by saying, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). How is this possible?

In the context of this command, we have its explanation. When we make eye contact with another person, we are to express the same warm, loving, enthusiastic greeting that we would show our best friend. This requires a cleansing of our hearts from all prejudices and judgment of outward appearances.

Remember that we have only one opportunity to make a first impression on each person we meet. That first impression is made in the split second that we first make eye contact.

Many people have low self-esteem. They reject certain unchangeable features and expect others to reject them as well. They live with the hurts of past rejections and are extremely sensitive when anyone shows signs of further rejection.

If they see us looking at them with a blank stare or frown, they will just assume that we are looking down on them, judging them, and rejecting or even despising them. However, if we give them a warm, loving smile and an enthusiastic nod of greeting, they will be surprised, encouraged, refreshed, and open to anything we want to say to them.

This “perfect” greeting communicates the love that God has for everyone: “For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

The Greek word for greet (salute) indicates an embrace in the arms of our hearts. In order to do this consistently, we must develop hearts full of love for all people with the compassion of Christ and the desire to meet their needs.

The above was taken from the book “Anointed for Greater Works” by Bill Gothard, Ph.D., and is used with permission.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 5:40 pm and is filed under Inspirational Insights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.