Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

"Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot" Judges 11:1

You've probably heard the popular phrase, "Don't judge a book by its cover." It simply means don't determine someones value based on What you see on the outside because you may miss Who they are on the inside. In a real sense, you never know what potential, possibilties, and purpose is hidden deep down within. However we live in a society that seems to glorify externals. Popular t.v. shows like The Fabulous Life Of, MTV Cribs, and The Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous, seem to glorify individuals based on what they have. However, we all know that everything that glitters ain't gold, everything that shines ain't silver and everything that is pretty ain't platinum. In order to make a difference in the lives of others we must be willing to sometimes dig beneath the dirt to get to the gold. I borrow that luminous line from Dale Cornegie who was onced asked how he was able to mentor so many millionaires. Dale Carnegie replied, "When mining for gold you have to deal with the dirt." What he was saying in essense is that all of us as individuals have dirt. We all have places and find ourselves in spaces that are not very attractive. However if we desire to be mentors we can't get distracted by the dirt, we have to keep our goal on the gold inside of individuals.
If anybody had some dirt it had to be the person in our text for today. The Bible introduces us to a brother by the name of Jephthah. When we look at his life, on the surface, he wouldn't make the Who's Who list. First of all he had some Pain in his life. The Bible says that he was the son of a prostitute and his step-brothers hated him. Imagine that, he was hated for something over which he had no control. Next, because his brothers were drinking that hater-aide, he fled to a land called Tob and joined a mob, today's version of a gang. How many of our brothers today find themselves in gangs simply becuase they have been kicked to the curb by society and they find a sense of belonging in the group that they are now associated with? But don't miss this, even through all of his pain, Jephthah still had Potential. Look at vs. 1a, "Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor." In other words, he was a warrior. That means it was in him to conquer and claim. Today we must see and help our brothers recognize the potential that is within them. We must help them elevate their expectations and refuse to settle for settling. We must help them to overcome the pain in their past by reminding them of the possibilties in their future. We must provide direction so that they can use the skills, talents, and abiltities that they have in positive and edifying ways instead of negative and destructive ways. We must put away our pointing fingers and welcome them with open arms. Never Judge a book by it's Cover!

PEACE!