If we can look beyond appearances

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. (Psalm 82:3)

 When we see a man sleeping in a doorway or a woman asking for help in a slurred voice, we can tend to compare their condition with our understanding of the world. We may assume there’s something fundamentally wrong with someone in such a state. In truth, poverty puts people in a different world.
 Someone has suggested that to understand others, we should walk a mile in their shoes. But can I walk in the shoes of a single mother who is homeless, sick, battling an addiction to prescription drugs, and has had her children taken from her and placed in foster care? How can I possibly ever feel what she feels? I can’t walk in her shoes, but I can ask if she’d like to talk, to tell me her story, to tell me how it feels in her shoes.
 Can we separate the person from whatever condition afflicts them, whether it’s mental illness, drug addiction, poverty, or physical disease? Can we see who is inside and treat that person with respect? If we can look beyond appearances or assumptions, we have a chance of uncovering something good, even beautiful, beneath a rough or unattractive exterior.
 When we show respect, we bestow dignity. Dignity helps people see themselves more positively, and that yields hope. Hope gives the will to try and keep trying. In this way, our respect can help someone find a new life. — Caryn Phillips [1]

 When you are in a position to help someone, just do it and be glad, because God is answering someone's prayers through you. Don't think that anybody is using you but remember that you are useful. —Author unknown

[1] Activated Different Shoes