Seeing with God’s Eyes

It’s funny how two people can see the same object in very different ways. When I see an empty strawberry container, I see plastic that should be tossed into a recycling bin. When my seven-year-old son sees that same container, he sees the frame for a Viking ship that he will build with pipe cleaners, paper, and lots of tape.

So, too, with people. In nursing, we are trained to see beyond the physical needs of the patient and to recognize that they are whole beings in need of care. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul encourages his readers to see other people through spiritual eyes--God’s eyes--and to respond accordingly.

Hear the Word

Reflect on this passage from 2 Corinthians 5:16-20.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view…[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

In this passage, Paul says that those who are followers of Jesus should see the world differently, not “from a worldly point of view.” Instead, we are to see ourselves as “Christ’s ambassadors” whose job is to assist in reconciling others to God.

This means that if we are to see others with God’s eyes, we will see them as people in need of reconciliation with God! Others desperately need God just as much as we need God, and we get the joy of inviting others to know God!

Nursing students, what would it be like this year if you saw others through God’s eyes and recognized their spiritual needs? How would you view your classmates differently? How about the faculty on your campus, or your patients, preceptor, or co-workers?

Respond Actively

1. Commit for a day to seeing others as God sees them. As you walk around campus and/or clinicals, ask God to reveal to you his heart for them. How does this change how you are thinking and feeling?
    
2. When we see our classmates through God’s eyes, we naturally want them to get started or grow in their spiritual journey. So invite them to the next NCF meeting! Take a step of faith and particularly consider inviting someone who does not know Jesus to join your NCF community.

May the Lord enable you to see the world through his eyes!

--by Timothy Lin, NCF Student Ministries Director