Jesus constantly saw the best in people who others overlooked. He chose to spend time with people others avoided. Once, he even spent time with woman in hiding from her community – deliberately going to fetch a bucket of water when she knew other women wouldn’t be around to condemn her. Five divorces down (whether from her own doing or from others’), she wasn’t exactly everyone’s best friend. Stigma will do that to you. But Jesus saw someone who would receive Him as Messiah. So, He introduced Himself as the Saviour of the world to her – something He didn’t even do for His disciples, or Nicodemus, or the religious leaders. He saw something in her that would listen. So, she left totally changed and became the first evangelist in her whole region. Often, we look at evangelism as if it’s a conquest. Like we must go and fix bad people. But Jesus often looked at it so much more relationally. When He looked at people who God had made, He saw them with dignity, and He treated them with that dignity. He spoke to them in a way that connected with their deepest pains and pointed them to what would help them more than anything – Himself. So today, go for the gold in people. See the design that God’s put in them, that His image persists in them even if they’ve broken relationship with Him. Draw that out. Connect that with God.
What now?
Ask God to show you what He loves about a non-Christian friend of yours. Share your thoughts with them (in as normal a way as you can).