“Alvin Barnes of Jackson Mississippi “Only God Sees the Full Picture

By Alvin Barnes of Jackson, Mississippi

Try never to judge.

That’s easier said than done in a world built on quick takes and fast opinions. We scroll, we assess, we assume. And before we’ve even taken a breath, we’ve passed judgment on someone’s entire story, without knowing the first chapter. But here’s the truth that humbles me. The human mind is so delicate and complex that only God can know it wholly.

You don’t know what someone is carrying. You don’t know what silence they were raised in, what betrayal they’ve survived, or what voices echo in their head at night. You don’t know what pain pushed them to act the way they did or what unseen strength kept them from acting worse.

Every person is a living puzzle of trauma, love, choices, pressure, and grace. Only God sees every piece. Only God knows how it fits together.

“The Lord sees not as man sees man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (Catholic Standard Version)

That verse reminds me to stop rushing to judgment and start leaning into understanding. Not just because it's kind, but because I don't know what I don't know. Each soul walks a road I haven’t traveled. Each mind is formed by circumstances I didn’t live through. So how can I, in good faith, decide who someone is based on one action, one season, or one mistake? The truth is, judging is often a form of self-protection. It makes us feel in control. But grace, grace is messy. It asks us to love before we label. To listen before we assume. To pause before we punish.

And when we can’t make sense of someone, when their actions hurt, confuse, or disappoint us, we don’t have to force understanding. We can hand them to God. Leave the unraveling of the personality to the One who created it. Leave the teaching of understanding to the One who knows what that person needs most. And pray, not to be proven right, but to be made more loving. This doesn’t mean we excuse harm. It doesn’t mean we avoid boundaries. But it does mean we choose compassion over condemnation. Because if we’re honest, we’ve all needed someone to look at us and say, "I don’t get it, but I’m going to give you grace anyway." May we be that someone, for others. And may we trust that God will be that someone for us.

Peace and Love,

Alvin Barnes of Jackson, Mississippi