I’ve often heard folks say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.  The reality of this quote has proven itself to be true in my life more times than I choose to admit.  I thought the book was about one thing—based on what I could see on the outside, but when I dug deep into it, I learned it was something completely different.  People spend their days judging this, based on that, for years and have missed many blessings and good fortune because what they saw—wasn’t really the truth.

I remember in school there was this girl who walked around looking at us with such disgust on her face.  I never saw her smile and she was always alone.  She was so much taller than most girls her age, and she was defiantly at least two or three feet taller than me.  People teased her because of her height and the way she wore what clothes she had.  To be honest with you—she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Well one day when I walked into the cafeteria, I immediately saw her.  There she was sitting at a table all alone.  I decided today I’m gonna sit with her and see if maybe she would at least speak.  I got my food and headed to the table.  When I sat down, she looked at me as if she was angry that I sat down.  I spoke to her and to my surprise, she said “Hi”.  I thought to myself, so far—so good.  I asked her for her name and told her mine.  Believe it or not, that was the beginning of a really good friendship.

When I got to know her better, I learned that she didn’t talk much because people made fun of her all the time. They picked on her  because of her looks, her height, and the neighborhood she lived in.  They even called her names because she was a little awkward then most of us.  Her self-esteem was so low that she had no confidence in herself at all.  When I took the time to get to know her, she was a beautiful person inside and out.  She had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone.  I think the world needs more people like that.

I want to encourage you, to “Shake Yourself Loose” from judging things because of their looks.  Why? Because “Looks Can be Deceiving”.  If you walk around all your life thinking the wrong things about people, you know nothing about—you could truly miss out on the blessing of their friendship.  Folk may look different than you do and may even come from a different part of town than you, but they are still good people.   Shake Yourself Loose from casting fault or blame on people you’ve never taken the time to get to know. “Shake Yourself Loose” today and remember—“Looks Can Be Deceiving” (Read Matthew 5:44-48)