2Sa 10:3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?

The king of the children of Ammon died and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. David remembered the kindness that the king of Ammon had before shown to him and hence, he sent comforters to his son, Hanun. It was a good gesture on David’s part and a show of his gratitude to the deceased family. Hanun was a young and inexperienced king. He listened to the ill-advised of his princes. Evil men think evil of others. These wicked princes persuaded their king that David was hypocritical and that his real motive was but to spy out the city and the country with a view to conquer and bring them under his dominion. Hanun believed their evil report and humiliated the comforters sent by David. Obviously, his action offended David. David sent his army and defeated the Ammonites. Have you ever had your good intention misjudged by others? You did a good deed but someone commented it was hypocritical and said you had other motive? David’s action was pure but based persons thought otherwise. The men who persuaded Hanun to scorn David’s friendliness did not know David but yet they judged him to be a man like unto themselves - hypocrites and incapable of doing good. Wicked people are themselves incapable of doing good and think the same of others. They look with suspicion those who do good. They trust no one but themselves. Have you ever attended a meeting with your boss and when the meeting was over and as the two of you walked out of the meeting, he said: “Don’t trust that guy. I don’t believe a single word he said in the meeting”? One reason why a person cannot trust another person is because he is not trustworthy himself. As Christians, God wants us to see the best in others. I know it is not always easy to do so; but try we must. One way is to find the positive intention behind every action. Think positive and not negative. Paul wrote that true love believe all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). He means love is ever ready to believe the best of every person. That in regard to the conduct of others, we will put the best construction on it, believing that they are actuated by good motives and they intend no evil malice. Love produces this because it rejoices in the happiness and virtue of others. This does not mean we should be overly trusting in others to our perils. Christ says: “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). The serpent is cunning but wise. The dove represents simple mindedness. Christ wants us to take the good from the serpent, which is wise, and throw away the cunning portion, and take on the innocence of a dove. Should we then be suspicious or be trusting of people? If you are overly suspicious of others, the consequences can be severe; the Ammonites overly suspicious character was self-hurting. Overly suspicious people bring problems to themselves. First it robs them of happiness. If you spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about what others are thinking or doing, it will affect your happiness. Your mind will be filled with so much negative thoughts that you cannot enjoy life. Paul says: “Love thinketh no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:5). That is, love puts the best possible construction on the motives and the conduct of others. Our Lord Jesus always sees the good in others; never mind what others say about them. When Jesus saw Matthew, the tax collector, He saw potential for good (Matthew 9:9). He was right: Matthew was a faithful apostle and the writer of the gospel of Matthew. Jesus saw in Simon the potential for good (John 1:42). He knew Simon was impulsive and would one day deny Him, yet He also saw the potential for this man's ability to stand like the Rock of Gibraltar on the day of Pentecost and proclaim the first gospel message. Most of us see the potential for bad in others; we focus at their flaws and are blind to their good. Let us pray and ask God to give us the eyes of Jesus so that we too can see the potential for good in the people around us.