Seeing As God Sees

by Matt Williams on June 21, 2021

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:13-14).

Yesterday for our worship service we focused on the verses above. Without God telling us this amazing truth we would not know how man sees the world or how God sees the world. God had to inform Samuel of these two truths, and I am so glad He did. Only God has the ability to see into our soul and discern motives, enlighten us our sin, and correct us with His Word. Some of you enjoyed it so much that you requested these five principles to be posted online. Well, here they are, as promised. Enjoy!

Application:

We cannot discover who we are through some introspective quest or from the world. We must let the Bible tell us who we are.
We must let our worldview be shaped by Scripture.
We must train ourselves to be mindful of our motives.
We must be mindful of our fallen nature when making decisions and intentionally seeking Godly counsel with much prayer.
To please the Lord (without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11:6) we must change from the inside out.

About the Author

Matt Williams

Hello and thank you for taking the time to visit our staff page. I grew up in central Florida where my parents taught me to trust in Jesus, read my Bible, and showed me the importance of the local church. As I grew in my understanding of sin, I realized that I was guilty before a holy God. I listened as different teachers in my church explained to me that I needed to trust in the death of Jesus for God to forgive me and give me a new heart to love only Him. I expressed this new trust publicly when I was baptized at 12 years old.

During the next six years I began to understand that if I wanted to follow Jesus it would require much more than my heart was ready to give. I grew up loving sports. Specifically, basketball. I loved basketball so much that it was becoming a hindrance to my commitment to follow Jesus. Honestly, I loved basketball more than I loved Jesus. I knew God was telling me to leave basketball behind and be fully devoted to whatever He wanted me to do, but I was too stubborn to obey. So God, in His great mercy, did it for me. Through a painful experience, I was cut from my high school basketball team my senior year and God used this event to get my full attention. Now I had nothing but Jesus for an identity and now God could use me as He pleased.

The removal of basketball from my heart was replaced with a calling to pastor. I immediately gave my full attention to learning everything I could about Jesus and how to lead others to Him. The next 8 years was devoted to higher education where I had the privilege of learning from some of the wisest men I know who taught me what it takes to be a pastor. Afterwards I gained helpful experiences in different pastoral roles in several churches until I was led to accept my current position at First Baptist Fairborn. It is truly a privilege to pastor here. To God be the glory!