Christian Latina Leadership Blog

By: Eva Martínez

Para leer la versión en español haga clic aquí 

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love… Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4: 1-2, 32 NIV)

As women called to leadership by God, we soon realize that our service takes place among others; It is a service in relation: “with one another.” In this context, the way we see other people such as our coworkers, leaders, or members of our churches and our own families is very important. Gazing is not just a physical action. It is a disposition of the heart; it is a way of perceiving the situations we experience and the people around us.

You have probably seen this image before. It is a famous optical illusion known as My Wife and Mother-in-Law. It was originally drawn by British cartoonist William Ely Hill and published in 1915 in Puck magazine, with the caption: “They are both in this drawing—find them.”

It is an example of a reversible figure: depending on how you look at it, you can see either a young woman looking to the side or the profile of an old woman. What do you see? If you only see a young woman, you would have a hard time understanding the description of someone who sees an older woman. But both women are in the image, even though our eyes see only one of them. Maybe you are one of those people who see both images. Maybe with some more time and effort or help from a friend can you shift from one perspective to the other? The important thing is to recognize that both are there.

This interesting exercise can help us reflect on the importance of how we perceive the people we interact with daily and how our “perspective” can be a tool to positively (or negatively) influence their development. In my ministry, I have worked for many years on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities. Through this, I have had the blessing of meeting valuable people who have taught me a great deal. For example, the importance of focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses, of believing in the individual and seeing them not as passive recipients of aid but as citizens who can contribute to society with their talents. How we treat them and encourage the development of their potential will depend on our perception of them.

How do we view the people we interact with? Is it a perspective that focuses on their talents and potential or on their shortcomings and limitations?

Ephesians 4 invites us to live in a manner worthy of our calling, and that involves adopting a perspective transformed by the gospel. Having a restorative gaze. Paul presents us with a path for our leadership, leadership in relation: the path of love, humility, gentleness, and patience. “Bearing with one another in love” he tells us. It is not an exhortation to passivity, but to compassion. The word “bearing” here is not to resign ourselves, but to remain steadfast in love, even when the other person is difficult or challenging. For when we look harshly at others, we forget that we too need grace, every day.

To look with compassion is to see beyond, like when we, with more time and effort, can see the other woman in the picture; it is to remember that the other person is also in process. That they have internal struggles, wounds we do not see, fears that perhaps even they do not understand. Just like it happens to me.

To look with compassion is to see the person with the eyes with which Christ has looked at us. And it is in this context that Paul ends the chapter by saying, “Be kind and compassionate to one another.” Repeating this about the existence of one another, giving the idea of ​​diversity where some most likely had different ideas than others. And where a perception was needed not only of compassion but of challenge, of invitation to growth and development. “Forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Forgiveness is not born from a momentary feeling, but from a decision sustained by the memory of the cross. When we remember how much God has forgiven us, our desire to condemn weakens, and our capacity to accept and restore is strengthened.

The compassionate gaze and the gaze of challenge to be better are fueled by the security of knowing we are loved by God.

Dear friend in leadership: The Lord has not called on us to build walls born of the harshness of our outlook, but to open paths of possibility and reconciliation. We are not alone in this task. The Holy Spirit is working in you and me to transform our way of seeing others. Today we can ask the Spirit to teach us to see with the eyes of Christ: eyes that see beyond the wounds, that hope for the best, and that bless.