Human

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view . . . 

 - From 2 Corinthians 5

"I'm only human" used to mean something. When's the last time you heard someone say that? When's the last time you heard someone respond to it with "Good point. Yeah, no worries."

When working on my MA in Educational Studies at the University of Michigan, I remember one of my peers making a statement to the class, with this preface: "I don't know how to say this the right way, so I'll have to say it the wrong way." This was a long time ago, 2006, and the rest of the cohort laughed with him in this lighthearted way to communicate a difficult concept.

What is it, to regard someone from a "human" point of view?

What does it mean to be "human," or "only human"?

When we say "only human," we're talking about being imperfect, selfish, corruptible, incomplete, mortal, anxious, fallible.

When we look at someone from a human point of view, we're projecting our own foibles upon them. We compare them to others. We compare them to ourselves. We see their faults. We consider them a threat. We begin competing with them.

We see them as poisonous. We see them as infected. We see them as contagious. We see them as people we must avoid.

We see them as wrong; The Other; hateful; greedy; materialistic; misogynistic; racist; evil.

We see them as Biden, Ocasio-Cortez, Clinton, Obama, Gates, Soros.

We see them as Cruz, Baio, Graham, Owens, Pence . . . Trump.

We see them not as God sees them.

We must not regard others through human eyes. People are human. They're fallible. They die. And we have got to love them as God does. We must replace our human filters with unconditional godly love.

Make the change today. Start to make the change. Stop regarding others through your petty, selfish, resentful, envious, biased, partisan, bitter, limited, wrong, and sinful human point of view.