Appearances
- Michael Haldas
- Aug 21, 2016
- 2 min read
“If we allow ourselves to belittle others, either because of their appearance or because of their state in life, we dismiss the truth that God can, in His divine providence, transform anyone into a saint. The person who seems to have succumbed to a worldly life, who is covered in tattoos and nose rings and has orange hair, could be in the process of coming into an awareness of God. Our judging her or shunning her could hamper this process. Human weakness can be changed by divine power. We must recognize this truth so that we never condemn or judge another.” (Abbot Tryphon)
"Our perception is limited to what we see, but we do not know what is in a person’s soul. The gift of discernment is to acquire the eyes of God, who looks at the inner man: “The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Kingdoms [1 Samuel] 16:7)." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
“We must not gauge a person’s interest in God by his or her background, lifestyle, or appearance.” (Life Application Study Bible, Joshua 2:8-13)
“Jesus criticized the Pharisees and the experts in religious law harshly...They went wrong by focusing on outward appearances and ignoring the inner condition of their hearts. People do the same when their service comes from a desire to be seen rather than from a pure heart that is full of love for others.” (Life Application Study Bible, Luke 42-52)
“We all fail Christ. The Apostles did; the Saints did. But these persisted until the end. They stayed with the struggle. Maybe they had moments when they worried about appearances, about looking good - yes, even Saint Peter did that (Gal 2:11-13). However, the beauty of their lives in Christ was seen in the ability to weep and correct their behavior when they were wrong.” (Dynamis 11/5/2012)