At the very beginning of my Christian journey, there was a very dark period of my life that is painful to remember. As I grew in the truth and studied inspired writings, I concluded that a great deal had been revealed to me and that I had come to understand many things. I learned to distinguish good from evil and tried to do only what pleased God. But together with this knowledge, I received the ‘gift of discerning sin in other people.’ I became a true specialist in identifying the corruption of my dear brothers and sisters. Moreover, I could quickly find the right quotation that precisely proved my discovery and confirmed that I was right about the matter in question.
I saw sins in everyone the Lord sent me, although I did not always have time or desire to tell every person about them. My favorite verse at that time was Isaiah 58:1: ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.’ Naturally, I regarded myself as the chief hero of this verse. I was bursting with pride because I was obeying this command of God so successfully.
Like attracts like. People just like me—other ‘sin spotters’—began appearing in my life. We enjoyed discussing the transgressions of people who, in principle, should have been strongholds of purity and truth.
The only thing that surprised me was why my dear brothers and sisters politely avoided me. I could not understand such behavior. I wanted what was best for them and desired to save them from their sins, yet for some reason they did not seek friendship with me. The brothers who respected me for my directness made me uneasy because at any moment they could also discover within me a great many shortcomings that, for some reason, were present in my life as well.
Living in such a spirit discouraged me. I understood that I had no love, no friends, and no knowledge of what happiness was. The world seemed very gray. My only Helper was Jesus, Who continued to accept me and care for me tenderly.
The summer of 2009 arrived. I was in such a deep spiritual crisis that I no longer knew how to continue living. I had parted from my ‘truth-bearing friends,’ but I did not understand where to find new ones.
Despite all this, I realized that the Lord had not rejected me. He was still preserving me and holding me by my right hand. I did not know where to go next, but I continued moving somewhere. The saddest thing I understood was that, despite all my talent for seeing the sins of others, I possessed no love for those people—or for anyone else. I did not know where to obtain love or what love was. But I remembered that God is Love. I gathered my courage and told Him that I had no love, that there was nothing good within me either, and that I desperately needed this gift. To my surprise, my request was answered. The Lord gave me confidence that He had heard and answered me, and now His love had become mine as well.
I had not expected such a turn of events. I became very interested in how this love would manifest itself in my life, what it would bring me, and whether I would be able to preserve it.
The years passed. I studied, and love taught me what you can read in the lessons of our School.
Now the Lord has opened new sources of blessing that can be discovered endlessly for ourselves and others.
Now, when I look at a person, I do not see his sins but the many beautiful treasures hidden within his heart. It is fascinating to excavate a friend’s soul, bring forth the precious from the worthless, and enrich both myself and, of course, my friend through such discoveries.
How much goodness is stored within every person! How many beautiful things we carry within our hearts without even knowing how rich we are in the various qualities of the soul!
There is, however, one very important principle. Only unconditional love can excavate these talents and enrich with them everyone who possesses interest and longing. When such love is mutual, it begins working miracles of revelation.
I enter the new world of an unfamiliar heart in order to make discoveries within it. I am surrounded by my friend’s caution and fear, impregnable walls, rusty chains and locks, experiences of former pain, and uncleared debris from past offenses and disappointments in people. Upon the walls of the soul, I see deep scars, bleeding wounds, and festering sores left by human experiences. Amid all this, I begin searching for the great and mighty things that the Lord promised to show me if I called upon Him.
I take out my shovel and, together with prayer, begin carefully exploring the soil of the heart. Suddenly, I see a familiar gleam. I kneel and uncover the first revelation.
What a miracle! I have found an incorruptible hidden treasure with a beautiful name that reflects my friend’s character. I remove it carefully, clothe my discovery in words, and share it with its owner, calling by name what has been revealed to me. My friend listens and involuntarily looks around, trying to make certain that no one else is nearby and that my discovery belongs only to him and concerns him personally. He is not accustomed to hearing such things. In his opinion, I am probably mistaken. But I persistently and convincingly express what has been revealed to me. I trust my eyes and cannot have miscalculated.
My friend cautiously takes my revelation and begins considering and examining it with distrust. Meanwhile, I dive deeper in search of new treasures. The Lord shows me the way and draws my attention to dark places within my friend’s heart so that I may dig there. And, oh, what a miracle—I make another discovery! I grasp it gently, clothe it in meaningful words, and then run to my friend with it to bring joy to his heart.
My friend is still slightly bewildered and trying to recover from the first discovery, while I overwhelm him with new revelations. I tell him how beautiful he is within and what a wonderful person God has given me in him. My friend looks around again, thinking that I am speaking to someone else. Then, when he realizes that I am speaking about him, he draws inward with emotion. I give him another treasure and disappear again into the depths of his heart.
I do not hurry to reveal everything at once because I fear that my friend may be unable to bear so much happiness and may declare my discoveries a pleasant fairy tale. Yet my confidence convinces him that he truly is the beautiful and amazing person revealed to me.
Days pass, and I continue discovering more and more within my friend’s precious heart, finding so many beautiful things that I myself am amazed.
I have noticed that the love with which I enter my friend’s soul possesses healing qualities. It heals every wound, tears down impregnable walls, removes fears, and brings cleanliness and order into the heart of the keeper of treasures who has now become dear to me. I am no longer here merely as a guest. I have the status of a true friend, for whom new depths of the soul are opened where no other human being has ever been. And this causes no one to be afraid.
Such responsibility frightens me, but I can no longer leave this heart, nor do I desire to, and I do not even know how. I have become so accustomed to being enriched by discoveries that it is easier for me to continue and find even more than to make a hopeless attempt to leave.
But the most amazing thing is that all these treasures reflect God’s character. I understand that the Lord Himself created this likeness of Himself within a human being so that we might reveal it to one another, enrich one another through it, and return what belongs to God back to Him in the form of unearthly joy and gratitude.
Bible Verses for Reflection
Jeremiah 15:19; 33:3; Hosea 4:7–8; Romans 2:1; John 13:34–35; Job 28:9–11; Proverbs 10:22; 11:25; 17:9, 17; 18:8, 24; 21:10; 22:11; 27:2; Ecclesiastes 4:9–11; 12:11; Song of Solomon 7:11.