Boxes

Do you ever feel like someone has placed you in a box?
I've been thinking a bit lately about how we tend to judge people too quickly. How often do you hear around here, "Oh, you must be so and so's grandson/granddaughter". Wham, you're in a box. That person will always see you as so and so's grandson/daughter. Whatever they may think of you will be related to that first. They see you through a specific lens, so to speak.
That has often bugged me. I don't want to be seen through a specific lens. I don't want people to think of me only as how they have first perceived me.
How often do you forget about people's individuality? How often do you find that you are prejudiced about someone by their dress, accent, race, or just by how you first met them? I want to remind you not to allow what we know about someone to color your understanding of them as an individual. I believe that each person has so many things about them that makes them who they are and there is no way that you can ever believe that you already know someone completely. The only way to know someone is to spend time with them and let them tell you about themselves not only in what they say (sometimes that can be deceiving) but in how they act.
This subject first popped into my head a couple of days ago when I was listening to a song on the radio.

"Fingerprints of God" by Steven Curtis Chapman.

I can see the tears filling your eyes
And I know where they're coming from
They're coming from a heart that's broken in two
By what you don't see
The person in the mirror
Doesn't look like a magazine
Oh but when I look at you
It's clear to me

That I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece that all creation
Quietly applauds
And you're covered with
The fingerprints of God

Never has there been and never again
Will there be another you
Fashioned by God's hand and perfectly planned
To be just who you are
And what He's been creating
Since the first beat of your heart
Is a living, breathing
Priceless work of art

And I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece that all creation
Quietly applauds
And you're covered with
The fingerprints of God

Just look at you
You're a wonder in the making
And God's not through
In fact, He's just getting started!


For those of you who sometimes feel like you are placed in a box and labeled, remember that God knows who you truly are and what other people think of you shouldn't make you believe you should change who you are. Let God mold you. :)
I would also like to encourage you to open yourselves up to getting to know people. Let them tell you who they are. Be open with them. You never know who'll turn out to be a huge blessing to you or how God can use you in someone's life.
It can be hard to be vulnerable and let people in, but wouldn't you rather be able to say that you were open and available rather than shutting out anyone and everyone who could potentially change your life forever?