While shopping yesterday, I couldn’t wait to buy more apples! Each day, I pack one in my lunch and look forward to crunching into it. When I shop, I grab Fuji, Gala, and Jonamac, so I can have a variety to choose from as I pack my lunch. As I arrived at the bins, I noticed that they were only half full. I searched for the perfect apples, picking up one and then another, only to discover they were all a little bruised.
Sometimes, we assume God does the same thing, trying to find only the perfect in us. But time and time again, we are reminded that God picks all the bruised and scarred and places us in His basket. He sees past the outside, the protective mask, to the heart of each of us. The world and society teach us one thing, but God teaches us to see with love.
As 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us,
The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
We are all bruised apples. God loves each and every one of us!
As you go through your week, try to look at yourself and others as God does.