Seeing the Person

SEEING THE PERSON

There are people in this world who do not bend to fit into what others expect of them.

They are often misunderstood. Labels are placed on them—terms like “anti-social”—because they do not move in the same way as others.

But what I have seen is something different.

They do not conform easily. They do not shape themselves to suit the expectations of others. They see things directly, and when pushed, they will speak what they see without filtering it.

This can be confronting. It can make others uncomfortable.

But within that, there can also be a purity—a lack of pretence, a refusal to live falsely, and at times, a greater capacity to stand outside of judgment.

They are often not accepted as they are, because

they do not become what others need them to be.

And yet, I have seen in these people a depth of love that does not come from trying to please, but from simply being.

The world may call it anti-social. But I have come to see it differently.

There is a difference between behaviour and the person themselves.

We are all shaped by what we have lived through, but beneath that, there is how we were made.

What I am experiencing is to look beyond what has formed around the person.

Not to excuse what is harmful, but to see clearly what is true.

To hold both:

• to recognise when behaviour crosses a line

• and still not lose sight of the person underneath

Because if we only respond to what we see on the surface, we miss what is real.

Jesus did not respond to people as they appeared in their brokenness. He saw beyond it—to how they were made.

And perhaps that is the invitation to all of us:

To see the person, not just the presentation.

To let what is false fall away and not build our judgment around it.

And in doing so, to meet something deeper—both in them and in ourselves.