Never judge by appearances.

Written by Rebecca Holsapple

The sun was shining in through the window blinds as she opened her eyes, Gabrielle could feel that it was a perfect fall morning. She hopped out of bed and opened the window, she felt the crisp breeze on her face and took a deep breath. This was her favorite time of the year and she was so excited because this morning was her first time at a new church. She was always the optimistic, she enjoyed new adventures and she was looking forward to making some new friends.

She put on a long brown maxi dress, a dark teal cardigan and a beautiful forever scarf her grandmother had given to her right before the move. “I’ll love you forever; I hope this scarf will remind you of that”. Gabrielle smiled; her grandma was such a special person. She would miss having her close by, but they would talk on the phone and she would get to see her on Spring Break.

Gabrielle brushed her long blond hair and braided it to the side and put a teal flower head band on. She looked at her reflection in the mirror; her beautiful blue eyes were shining with anticipation.

She ran down the stairs, her mom and dad were sitting at the table and so was her little 4 year old brother Taylor.

“Your plate is ready honey. Pray and eat quickly, we need to head out in no more than 10 minutes if you want to make it in time for Sunday school.” Said mom.

“Here I’ll clear the table while you go do your hair” said dad. He gave mom a quick kiss as she left the room and started cleaning things up.

“So are you excited? By the flush on your cheeks, I would say you are” dad looked at Gabrielle affectionately.

“Oh yes! I just cannot wait to make new friends!!!” “I wonder how many girls my age go to our new church; I hope there are a lot!” Gabrielle was easily animated.

“Well, even if there aren’t I’m sure you’ll make a least one or two new friends.” “Hurry and finish eating, it’s almost time…” dad said.

The family got in the car just five minutes later then they had planned and they made their way to church in a lot of chatter. Unlike Gabrielle, Taylor was a bit anxious, so she made it her mission to comfort him and be sure he would be happy to go.

She took his hand and dropped him off at the door of the 4-5 year old class and by then he seemed quite a bit more relaxed, she arrived in front of the 10-11 year old class and was greeted by a beautiful lady.

“Hi, you must be Gabrielle. My name is Sister Patience. We are so glad to have you.”

Gabrielle flashed her brightest and biggest smile accompanied by a great big hug.  “Thank you so much Sister Patience, I am thrilled to be here, I am looking forward to learning new things and making new friends.”

“Very well! You can take a seat; everybody should be here within the next five minutes” “You can start working on a crossword puzzle while you wait” Sister Patience smiled as she handed her a piece of paper.

As she was working on her crossword puzzle, Gabrielle looked up every time a new student walked in. She was eager to make friends, but there was one thing Gabrielle struggled with, she had the bad habit of judging people by the way they looked. She liked to be friends with pretty people, people with a good sense of style.  So as students walked in, she decided in her mind whether they would become friends or not. The monologue in her head went a bit like this:

“Oh she is pretty, I love her hair, and I would totally wear that outfit. I’m sure we’ll get along perfectly.

Her, on the other hand, what is the embroidered top? It looks like something my great aunt would wear. I can’t imagine we would get along. Her hair doesn’t look very pretty either; did she not have time to brush it this morning?

This boy is wearing jeans on Sunday morning! I can’t believe it. I bet he is not very clever; we most likely won’t get along.

This other one on the other hand, what a nice outfit and I really like the way his hair looks, I’m sure we’ll be friends.”

She stopped herself short. What was she doing? This wasn't right.

She could feel her forever scarf around her neck and it made her remember a conversation she had with her grandmother just the month before...

They had gone apple picking. A neighbor had a few trees drooping with apples, but they had not treated them. Grandma had asked to take some and had told Gabrielle they would cut around any parts that the bugs may have bit into. They had such a great time; spending time with grandma was one of her favorite things.

Once they had picked several bushels, they took them back to grandma’s house and started slicing, coring and peeling. It was a lot of work but they talked as they worked.

“So, we have new neighbors. It’s really too bad we are moving, they are the most attractive bunch. Always dressed so nicely and their hair all done so beautifully. I would love to become their friends.” Gabrielle always felt free to talk about anything with grandma.

“Is that right?!” “Are they Christians?” grandma asked.

“Oh I don’t know, I can’t really tell, but as beautiful as they all are, I can’t imagine they wouldn't be.”

Grandma smiled.

“So how is your friend Danny doing? You haven’t talked about her in a while”

“Well, Danny is making some strange wardrobe choices lately, I really don’t care to be seen with her. I tried to convince her that purple and yellow don’t go together but she just won’t listen to reason.”

“Oh!” Grandma was looking a bit concerned.

“She still is the sweetest person I know, but really… dressing like that… it’s just not right. It might reflect badly on me.”  Gabrielle thought back on her words with regret.

Grandma looked at her with sad eyes. She took 2 apples in her hands and showed them to Gabrielle.

“Which apple looks more delicious? Which one would you pick to eat?”

Gabrielle looked at them, the answer was easy. One of them was bumpy with a few rough patches, and the other was beautifully shaped and a beautiful shade of red. She pointed to the latter.

“Very well. Let’s cut them open.”

As grandma cut, she started with the bumpy one. The inside was all white and nice, a perfectly yummy apple. But when she cut the perfect apple the middle was black and rotten. Gabrielle was really surprised!

“These apples are like people, Gabrielle. Beauty on the outside doesn't equal beauty on the inside. What do you think God cares about most? Whether someone is always dressed nicely or whether they have a caring heart?”

“Um… “Gabrielle knew the right answer, but it was so hard to admit that she had been having the wrong attitude.

Grandma continued “In the Bible in the book of Samuel, we are told that even though Saul was tall and good looking, he had turned from God, his heart had grown hard. So God told his prophet not to look at the outward appearance, that he had chosen a new king for Israel. He sent him to the house of Jesse, because one of his sons was to be king. Imagine his surprise when the smallest of them all was chosen.”

Grandma washed her hands and walked to the dining room table; she picked up her worn Bible and turned to a passage.

“It says in Samuel 16:7: “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

"Do you think we should look at outward appearance or be more like God, and look at a person’s heart?”

Gabrielle eyes filled with tears. She knew her attitude had been all wrong, she also knew she really needed to ask God as well as Danny for their forgiveness.

“Oh grandma, I feel terrible! I’ve been acting so badly. Danny is my best friend and she has a heart of gold. I should have never let what she wears bother me so much. How shallow of me!”

Grandma gave her a big hug. “We all have areas in which we struggle in life, the important thing is to realize that we have sinned and ask God for forgiveness. This won’t be the last time you have thoughts like that. Just remember this conversation and ask God to help you not to judge people that way. He will always be there when you need Him.”

Gabrielle was brought back to present tense by Sister Patience asking if everyone had finished they puzzles. She looked at her paper, then around her at all the children in the class. She looked at them with fresh eyes. She prayed quietly: “Lord, thank you so much for reminding me of my conversation with grandma. Please help me to never judge, but to only look at the heart. “

The class was wonderful and she got to know all the kids and she knew she would get to be friends with all of them, no matter what they looked like. She knew it was the right attitude and that God and grandma would be proud of her.