Ugly or beautiful, poor or rich, fat or lean, and good or bad looking were parameters I usually used to pre-judge someone. Those parameters used to give me the first impression I had about someone. Life showed me I was totally wrong. Pre-judging a man before knowing his story taught me a great lesson.
Judging a man only for his external look gave me a totally wrong idea of what he actually was. A man not shaved, living on streets, without a bath, bed or even drinking water, using dirty clothes, with no shoes, and smelling of alcohol is the picture of the man I met that night. When he started to talk to me, his breath was exhaling a strong smell of alcohol. I had learned that excessive use of alcohol is destructive for a person. Then, in possession of that external information I judged that man, and started to rebuke him. I told him that alcohol was destructive for his life. I also told him that because of the excessive use of alcohol he probably was living on streets with nothing. I said to him: “it is hard for our loved ones living with someone who is constantly drunk”. I was determined to convinced that man to stop drinking. However, I did not stop to listen to that man story.
Understanding the man’s story, and his reasons, made me feel smaller than a penny. That man was from another state in Brazil. His family was very poor and was facing great financial difficulties. He had to do something. Thus, he had get hides in order to travel to Sao Paulo (the richest state in Brazil) to try a better life. When he arrived in Sao Paulo he was a victim of one robber. He lost everything in that incident, including his documents. He didn’t have family in Sao Paulo or any place to stay. He had to start to live on streets asking for charitable donation’s. His bed was an empty cardboard box with a hole in the front that was used like a door. I can remember it was a very cold night. He explained to me that he had to use alcohol to warm up his body because he did not have any blanket, only his own clothes.
Definitely, an open heart to understand before judging is essential for those who want to help someone. I was there to help homeless people. I was there to bring food and the Gospel for people who were living on streets. I belong to one Christian church who regularly used to promote food distribution for homeless. After the food distribution we used to talk about the Gospel and to my surprise, that man was a Christian. I could not realize and understand his situation. I judged before and made a strong mistake.
In conclusion, a man can not be judged only for his external appearance. His story and everything that involves his life has to be considered. I learned that we have to listen and understand first, and even before, we can not judge.
