Negative adjectives

 1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Did you know that the order of nouns and adjectives are different in the English and Hebrew languages? In English, the adjective comes before the noun, as seen in “The big house”, whereas in Hebrew, the order is turned around, reading “The house big”.

This means that whenever Jesus spoke to people, He never mentioned their sinful deeds before their actual birthright, namely as someone created in the image of God. He would see an adulterous woman as a woman caught in adultery, not only because He looks at hearts, but also because His language reference for her would have the words in that order – woman first, adultery second!

The possessed man becomes a man (who happens to be possessed); the crippled man becomes the man (who also is crippled); the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet becomes the woman (who had many sins).

He looks at who they were created to be, knowing that He can redeem them from the hand of the enemy into that intended state, into being children of God – forgiven, delivered and healed!

What a difference it would make in our environments if we had the same mind-set as Jesus, if we would see everyone we meet as potentially belonging to God, without any negative adjectives attached? Especially as people normally arrive on our doorsteps with labels that others have ascribed to them, and it is so easy to simply believe the gossip and even elaborate.

But there is another important application here. What a difference it would make in our own lives if we saw ourselves without self-inflicted negative descriptions? As highly beloved children of God, without the labels of not good enough/not spiritual enough/not talented enough/sinful/ashamed/unloved – and I could go on and on.

Pearls to ponder:

Ignore the negative adjectives that jump to mind whenever you think of someone, and search for the real person underneath, the one that maybe desperately needs understanding and healing. Be that safe place where they eventually will be able to voice those needs and find healing and deliverance, peace and love!

Acknowledgement to Jonathan Cahn.

Change my heart, o God