When You Look Them in the Eyes

Are you guilty like me? I have a tendency to glance at people, even when I am speaking with someone. I can't say I always look someone in the eye, do you? I have a horrible habit of not giving the person my full attention when we are talking. But do you know what happens when you look someone in the eye, you make them feel special. Even if it is just for that brief moment of conversation, they feel noticed. Listened too. Respected.

I really am trying to be better at this. I know how important it is and I'm working on it. As God's children we are called to love others and if we can't even take the time to look them in the eye, are we really loving them? If I'm talking to someone and the whole time they are looking around the room, paying attention to other conversations and checking out what everyone else is doing, I certainly don't feel like my conversation with them is important. Yet, I've been guilty of this very thing many times. Thank God for grace and forgiveness!

But another thing happens when we look into their eyes....

we can see into their hearts.

You can see joy in eyes. You can see love. You can also see sadness.

Look at this picture of the horse.

Now, look at it again and look in the eye.

At first glance you might just see a close up of a horse's eye, but when we actually take the time to look at it, we see much more. We see the reflection of my daughter taking the picture, we see her hands, the camera and the sky.

There is so much more to see that we might have missed had we not looked into their eyes.

How much are we missing when we just glance at people? What are we missing that could change everything and cause us to stop and truly see them? To truly love them.

Are you a glancer or a looker?

*originally published February 2016 on my former blog