PERCEPTIONS

“PERCEPTION does not define who we are, but it does define where we are limited, and where we are not yet free.” Georgi Y. Johnson

All of us have friends, but do we really know them? I mean REALLY know them. Do we know their position on things that may be important to us-GOD, politics, love, money, homosexuality, etc.?  Do we know if they share our same views? Or is the friendSHIP based on PERCEPTION?  PERCEPTION is the state of becoming aware of something through our senses-sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell.  PERCEPTIONS can be right or wrong, but unfortunately, we won’t know because they are situational. Something has to occur for us to know if our PERCEPTIONS are right or wrong and I recently learned that. See a few weeks ago, a male friend and I exchanged text messages that caught me off guard. He’s a good-looking man who I’ve known for years. Someone I thought was GOD fearing, calm, rationale and logical., but, through text messages, he proved otherwise. I became aware that my PERCEPTION of him was distorted. He wasn’t who I thought he was. My PERCEPTION was wrong!!! Has someone said or done something that changed your PERCEPTION of them?   Well, you already know I have!! So, for this week’s blog, let’s talk SHIP about PERCEPTIONS!!!           

A friend texted me to inquire if our new card line, nappyXpressionz sold Kwanzaa cards. I responded no, explained why, and informed him that we’d be offering them next year (now this year).   Excited about his inquiry, I talked about our cards and shared we wanted our card line to be a voice for all lifestyles and would include cards for same sex couples. He texted back “is that something GOD would like?” With those 6 words, the PERCEPTION of a man who I’d known or thought I’d knew crumbled.  What? After clutching my pearls, I texted that as a Christian, my job was to simply accept and love people for who they are, NOT who I thought they should be.  As we continued texting, he threw out scriptures pertaining to Sodom and Gomorrah and a bunch of random scenarios.  I threw out a scripture of my own, Corinthians 13:13 which states that “only three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love…and the greatest of those is love” and clarified that’s how I chose to live my life- LOVING others. Not hating someone because of a choice that don’t affect me. After receiving a few more Scriptures from him, I became agitated and responded that the Bible is a dangerous weapon when it’s misinterpreted. I admitted that I wasn’t on his level of Christianity yet. Because at his level, GOD speaks to him and tells him it’s okay to judge, condemn, and hate others because of the type of LOVE they choose. He warned me that my acceptance of sin was jeopardizing my relationSHIP with GOD.

Tired of this ridiculous exchange, I disclosed that in my walk as a Christian, I try to live a life pleasing unto GOD and I think HE is pleased. I informed him that I was at the love thy neighbor as thyself level of Christianity and was still in the loving and accepting other class and hadn’t graduated to the HATE class yet. To end this unnecessary text exchange, I went back to his original question about Kwanza cards.  I replied, YES, nappyXpressionz will offer Kwanza cards this year, and we will create cards for people with alternative lifestyles. Because we feel that everyone should ALWAYS feel that they matter and that they are loved. After all, with GOD we DO matter, and we ARE loved!!! Not sure what PERCEPTIONS you may have about your friends, or others-Black, White, Gay, Straight, Green, or whatever but IF that PERCEPTION is based on GOD’s Word, it can’t be anything other than GOD IS LOVE!!!

SHIP TALK: Has someone said or done something that changed your PERCEPTION of them?

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