THE STORY BEHIND A STORY. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE
"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."
Matthew 11:18-19

OBSERVATION
As Jesus teaches his disciples and to some of the disciples of his cousin, John the Baptist, He reveals the importance of the conclusions we make about people based in our perception. He mentions that John the Baptist's dietary restrictions were perceived as demonic by some. He also points out that His own diet and behavior was perceived as negative and carnal. Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus Himself were able to give the right impression to the majority because the people had the wrong expectations and they were not interested in finding the story behind the story. Behind all the reports of John the Baptist's odd behavior, there was a story of a righteous man willing to obey the path God traced for him. People were quick to judge him without finding the stories behind the story. The same happened to Jesus. Nicodemus seems interested in finding the story behind the story. But the great majority were making conclusions based in the first impressions. What a blessing they missed!

APPLICATION
I have become a fan of online news over TV news. However, it bothers me when editors and writers allure readers to get into a story with sensational headlines. And once you read the story behind the headlines, you get a different perspective on the news. When reading people, we cannot make our conclusions based on headlines, soundbites, and first impressions. We must be diligent to find the story behind the story. And we should refrain our conclusions until we get to the bottom.

The more I walk in the path of leadership, the more I realize the importance of collecting good information for decision making. It's amazing the amount of problems people have with each other because they don't find the story behind the story. They jump to conclusions without considering options. They don't give people an opportunity to explain their actions. They think the worse our of people rather that being gracious and give the benefit of a doubt. The result is distrust, disunity, and misjudgment.

Even though I cannot control what people think about me, I can control what I think about people. My responsibility as a leader and a mature believer is to find the story behind the story. I don't want to miss the blessings God has for us when we are diligent in building the right perception about others. There are people that may give me a bad first impression, but if I seek the story behind the story, I will find out that they are good people that simply are immature, naive, or unaware. There are other people that are masters in giving good first impressions, but if we seek diligently the story behind the story, we will find that they have evil intentions, wrong motives, and selfish ambitions.

PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the many times I judge a book by its cover. Let me be more diligent about seeking the story behind the story until I exhaust relevant information. Let me have discernment and wisdom when leading people and when making conclusions about their intentions and actions. I don't want to miss the blessing you have for me. Help to to spread unity, trust, and harmony around me by showing first how to make wise decisions based in accurate information, and then by lovingly teach people how to seek diligently the story behind a story. Amen!