Red and Yellow, Black and White…
Insights From Vacation Bible School
Seeing with the Eyes of Grace
We Ain’t All Alike, Are We?
You could always spot Eric.
Flannel shirt on a hundred-degree day. Scotch-taped glasses sliding down his nose. Long sleeves hid scars from cigarettes extinguished on his arms.
He was the kid who’d rush to the cookie table, scarf down the first handful, and reach for milk before anyone else was served.
I remember thinking, What a selfish move.
But Miss Marla saw something I didn’t.
She’d walk straight to him — not to scold, but to serve.
A hand on his shoulder. A second helping of grace.
And I’d sit there wondering, Why him?
Later, I learned what she already knew:
He wasn’t greedy.
He was hungry.
For food, yes — but even more for love.
Eyes to See
“Always be kind,” someone once said, “for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
We nod in agreement — then still judge others by what we see.
I’ve done it a thousand times.
We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.
But love — real love — looks deeper.
It looks through the dirt to find the image of God underneath. Miss Marla didn’t see Eric’s behavior; she saw his pain.
She looked past the flannel and the fear and saw a little boy who needed to know he mattered.
That’s the same way Jesus sees us.
While we’re busy covering up our scars, He’s uncovering His mercy.
The Beauty Beneath
When we see others through God’s eyes, labels dissolve.
Rich or poor, loud or quiet, scarred or shining — every soul reflects the same divine fingerprint.
Grace changes how we see.
It turns judgment into compassion, distance into connection, and suspicion into prayer.
It lets us love the ragamuffin in each of us — the child who still needs to know he’s wanted and he matters.
Reflection
Who might you be overlooking because of what you see on the surface?
What would it look like to view others — and yourself — through the eyes of grace?
How might compassion grow if you paused long enough to listen to someone’s story?
Prayer
Abba Father, give me Your eyes to see the beauty beneath the brokenness. Help me look past behavior to the heart, past appearance to Your image. Teach me to love the way You love — without condition, without exception, without end. Amen.