I don’t know about you, but I love to people watch! It is so exciting and never boring! If you have ever people watched, you know what I mean. Even if you have not intentionally sat down to people watch, odds are you have still done it. Whether intentional or not, what goes through your mind? As caught up in our own little world as we are most of the time, we see people around us. And generally speaking, they either fade into the background and we don’t give them a second thought, or they are different and we label them as weird or strange. As I write this I am at Chick-Fil-A and see a lot of different people around me and I cannot help but wonder how this differs from how Jesus sees people.

He created each one of us and knows every bit of everyone’s story. Seeing how Jesus interacted with people is so radically different from how we tend to interact with people. When we are tired for example, the last thing we want to do is be around people; especially needy people. In Matthew 14 Jesus gets word His cousin and close friend John the Baptist has been killed. As Jesus is on His way to pray and grieve, a crowd gathers. My guess is if we were in this situation, we would hurry or hide. But not Jesus. He stops and pours into them. He sees their hurt, their pain, their longing and Matthew says Jesus had compassion on them. I love that word! In the Greek, it carries with it a physical hurt along with, a pit in your stomach. Jesus saw the crowd, saw their hurt and pain, and he had compassion to the point He physically felt it in His stomach.

Now we don’t see other’s pain and hurt unless they tell us; but we all know pain. We all know what the death of a close friend feels like. We all have had pain of some kind and though it affects us differently, we can understand an aspect of their hurt. Now every situation is different. Every person is different. It is generally never a good idea to say to someone, “I know how you feel”. The simple truth is you do not. For example, if you and a friend both have a father who pass away in similar circumstances, you may think you understand. But what if you had a great relationship with your father while behind closed doors your friend’s father abused your friend either physically or emotionally? It is critical for us to be there for others, to have compassion to the point of physically feeling it, but we all have different stories. The events in our life have made us into the unique people we are today.

Everyone has such a fascinating story! I have asked a lot of people lately to tell me their story, and some try to explain first, “it really is not that interesting”. But that is simply not true. They may not feel comfortable sharing all their story, but everyone has done something, or experienced something you have not. Many of those I have talked to have done things I would love to do and their stories are fascinating!

And this is ultimately the difference between us and Jesus. When He was here, knew their story. I imagine Jesus walking down the road, seeing someone, and just knowing what they have been through and where they are now, He cannot help but smile. Maybe they were hurting, and He cannot help but feel for them. But walking down the road He knew their experiences, He knew their full story. He had compassion on all because He saw their true self. I cannot help but wonder how we would treat people differently if we knew their story, if we knew who their true self. If we actually took the time to be with them, ask them their story, and really hear them.

I challenge you this week. Ask someone to tell you their story. As much or as little as they feel comfortable. And just listen. Listen to the events in their life who have made them who they are today.