"Judge not according to the appearance,but judge righteous judgement."（John 7:24） The Jews were longing for the （Messiah）. But when the Lord Jesus Christ came they spurned Him.The Lord Jesus was of a simple family and he was not of comely appearance. The Jews had thus deprived themselves of the grace of salvation ,which was prepared for them ever since the creation of the world.

「不可按外貌斷定是非，總要按公平斷定是非。」（約七24）。猶太人仰望彌賽亞的到臨。但當主耶穌基督來時，他們卻輕視祂。主耶穌來自一個簡單的家庭，祂也沒有漂亮的外表。如此，猶太人喪失那甚至在世界創造之初就為他們預備好的榮耀救恩。

People generally judge others on their outward appearance. They would befriend those who are good looking and ignore those who are not. Elder James has this say :"My brethren,have not the faith our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, sit down here in a good place; and say to the poor Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? "（James 2:1-4）. Paul has this to say, "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know him no more"（2 Cor 5:16）

人通常由外表來判斷一個人。他們願意與那些擁有佳形美容的人做朋友，而忽略較不起眼的人。雅各長老說：「我的弟兄們，你們信奉我們榮耀的主耶穌基督，便不可按著外貌待人。若有一個人戴著金戒指，穿著華美衣服，進你們的會堂去；又有一個窮人穿著骯髒衣服也進去；你們就看重那華美的人，說：『請坐在這好位上』；又對那窮人說：『你站在那裡』，或『坐在我腳凳下邊。』這豈不是你們偏心待人，用惡意斷定人嗎？」（雅二1-4）。保羅為此也說：「所以，我們從今以後，不憑外貌認人了。雖然憑著外貌認過基督，如今卻不再這樣認祂了。」（林後五16）

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart. We should pursue perfect spirituality. Knowing that we men are created after the image of God（Gen1:26）, we should therefore regain the lost image of God in us by showing justice, purity, love, mercy. Bear the yoke of God and learn the kind of gentleness and meekness that God has shown to us.We would never be able to manifest the image of God in us if we continue to associate ourselves with the world and fail to consecrate ourselves to him.Finally, may the Spirit of God guide us so that we may have the insight to appreciate the good points of a person who does not have good looks.

世俗人看外表，但是神是看人內心。我們應該追求靈性上的完全。要知道我們是依神的形像所造（創一26），我們應該藉著公義、純潔、仁愛、憐憫的表現來重新獲得失去的神的形像。擔負主的軛，並學習主所顯示給我們的柔和與謙卑。如果我們繼續貪愛世界，而不能保守在主的懷抱中，這樣我們絕不能表現出神的形像。最後，願聖靈引導我們使我們具有洞察力，而能欣賞那不俊美的人的優點。
（原[青年團契]1998年02月號）