Looking Over Their Shoulder

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves." — Philippians 2:3
 
Have you ever been talking to someone who was looking past you the whole time?
 
You know the feeling. They shake your hand, they nod at the right moments, but their eyes keep drifting over your shoulder. They're scanning the room, working the crowd, looking for someone more important or more interesting than you.
 
It stings, doesn't it?
 
And yet we do it to others all the time.
 
To be a great encourager, you have to focus on one person at one moment in time. Even when other people are vying for your attention. Even when you're busy. Even when you'd rather be somewhere else.
 
"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4 ESV).
 
When someone is standing in front of you, they are who God has planted you next to for that moment. Not the person across the room. Not the text that just came in. Not the task waiting on your desk. The person right in front of you.
 
Looking over their shoulder while they're talking tells them they don't matter. Making eye contact and being fully present tells them they do.
 
Your wife needs that focus. Your husband needs it. Your children definitely do. Because if you're not focused on them, someone else will be, and that person will become the voice that shapes their life.
 
Stop scanning the room. Look them in the eye. Be all there.