Greta

We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (Col. 1:9)

As I drove to work, I dreaded the day ahead. My new coworker Greta had been assigned to my team to work on a special project. In the month she had been there, I had yet to see her smile. She didn’t seem to want to socialize with anyone. I prayed quietly, “Lord, please give me a new understanding and appreciation for this woman. Help me look on her with compassion instead of irritation and criticism.”

Later as I passed by Greta’s office, I noticed that her eyes were puffy and red, and she looked exhausted. Cautiously approaching, I asked, “Are you OK?” As if a dam had burst, Greta opened up and tearfully told me about her eighteen-year-old daughter, Ali, who had a mental illness and had stopped taking her medication. The previous day Ali had become agitated with a neighbor’s child and began screaming and cursing at him. Since this wasn’t the first incident, the seven-year-old’s parents called the police.

Suddenly I was ashamed. I had been critical of Greta. While I thought she was just a grouch who didn’t like other people, she had been doing her best to deal with a situation I couldn’t even imagine.

The world is full of all kinds of people, and some of them we just plain don’t like—sometimes for good reason. Others just rub us the wrong way for no particular reason. But God calls us to treat others with kindness and respect, whether we like them or not.

Jesus said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). The next time you’re around someone you find difficult, ask the Lord to help you see that person through His eyes.