May 14th, 2026
This week, I’ve been thinking about the idea that “familiarity breeds contempt.”
You may never have heard this saying, but it’s the notion that the more familiar you become with something, the less respect and appreciation you have for it. I’ve heard it said many times by my Pastor and others, but they didn’t coin the phrase. Saint Augustine said, “familiarity breeds contempt” in Greek as early as the 5 th century and referred to it as a “common proverb.” This ancient idea captures the human tendency to devalue the people and things with which we are most familiar.
Jesus said, “a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown” (Matthew 13:57) which aligns with this idea. Jesus was not honored in the place He would have been known best. His own family tried to stop His ministry, going so far as to say He was out of His mind (Mark 3:21). Most of the people who had the greatest opportunity to know Him missed the reality of who He was, because their familiarity blinded them to His value.
Think about your own life. Relationships within families are often the most strained, because it is those closest to us that see the most flaws. However, the fact that this is true does not make it right. While it is human nature for familiarity to breed contempt, it is not the nature of God. Does God lose appreciation for those He knows best? Of course not. No one loves us more than God and He alone knows us completely. He sees every flaw without allowing any of it to diminish our value in His sight. When God looks at a person, He is not unaware of the sin and darkness, but He has the capacity to see His intention despite corruption. God draws people to repentance and salvation by speaking into their potential and instilling hope! Thank God He didn’t allow Adam’s sin to determine His expectation for our future! He looked at humanity and saw the possibility of redemption. God can see who He made a person to be regardless of where they have been. This doesn’t mean He overlooks sin, but that He always calls us out of sin by allowing us to see who He is and who He created us to be.
One of the best examples of this is found in the story of a man originally called Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a self-described Pharisee of Pharisees (one of the people Jesus called snakes, hypocrites, white-washed tombs, and children of hell in Matthew 23:13-39). Saul was a Jewish religious leader who opposed the rise of Christianity more fiercely than anyone. He persecuted Christians, torturing and killing many followers of Jesus. He himself oversaw the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It would be hard to imagine someone further away from salvation than he was. However, Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus in a blinding light and revealed Himself as the Son of God. He commanded Saul to go into the city to await further instructions. Saul, or Paul, was blind for three days and was led by the Lord to a disciple named Ananias. Ananias had a vision in which Jesus told him to go lay his hands on Paul so he could regain his sight. Ananias took it upon himself to remind the Lord who they were talking about. He said,
‘“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”’
Jesus responded, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel…” (Acts 9:13-15)
I believe Ananias’ response is understandable considering Paul’s past. However, we will limit what God can do in a person’s life through us if we don’t see them the way God sees them. Our call as believers is to come into agreement with the truth God declares over a person, even if we don’t see how it could be fulfilled. Saul didn’t look like a “chosen instrument” when Ananias met him, but Ananias chose to come into agreement with what God declared about Paul. The first recorded words he spoke to him were “Brother Saul…” He chose not to see him as the Pharisee, persecutor, and murderer he had been, and instead called him “brother.”
It is so easy to allow what we know of someone to overshadow the truth of who God has called them to be. If we look only with our natural eyes and take inventory of the negative experiences we’ve had, it will be easy to devalue ourselves and others. It is especially easy to do this with the people closest to us, because we see their flaws more clearly than anyone else. No one knows you better than your spouse, your children, your family, and your close friends. It is in those relationships especially that we must guard against contempt bred by familiarity. We must be careful not to allow what we know of someone’s past or shortcomings to shape our view of them, even if they have not yet changed. If someone close to you has let you down multiple times in a particular area, it may be difficult for you to believe they will ever change. However, God never stops believing in us and we must allow Him to shape our hearts and our expectations for those around us. Love and humility will keep contempt from taking root! 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says,
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
God, in His love and grace, can always see who we can be washed in the blood of His Son. We must choose to come into agreement with Him. He called David to be king when he was a shepherd disregarded by even his own father (1 Samuel 16). He called Gideon a “mighty man of courage” while he was still afraid of his own family (Judges 6:11-24). When God looks at someone, He always loves and always sees the person they can be if they will choose to follow Him!
This truth is important in our own lives as well. You are not defined by your past any more than Paul was defined by his past. Paul was a chosen instrument of God, not a murderer. In the halls of history, he is not remembered for his sin. He received the grace of God and became a messenger of heaven to Gentiles, Kings, and every believer who reads what the Holy Spirit wrote via Paul’s pen. No life could be further away from salvation than Saul’s, and yet, he was completely transformed by the Gospel. Every man and woman on earth is created with purpose, and He has called us to see people the way He sees them. Familiarity does not have to breed contempt if we are renewed by the Holy Spirit and filled with the hope of heaven!
This week, I encourage you to ask God, as I did, if there are any familiar areas you’ve allowed bitterness or contempt to contaminate your heart because of past experiences. Has what you “know” of someone, or something kept you from hearing what God would say? How much more hope would we have for our families, our churches, our cities, our nation, the global Body of Christ, and the world, if we could see His intention instead of the circumstances? What is He saying that we haven’t heard because we’ve allowed
contempt to contaminate our faith? Even now, allow the purity and sweetness of His presence to break off everything that would hinder you from seeing as He sees. He has such good things for us! It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom of heaven, and He will do above and beyond all we can ask or imagine, if we will just believe Him!
You may never have heard this saying, but it’s the notion that the more familiar you become with something, the less respect and appreciation you have for it. I’ve heard it said many times by my Pastor and others, but they didn’t coin the phrase. Saint Augustine said, “familiarity breeds contempt” in Greek as early as the 5 th century and referred to it as a “common proverb.” This ancient idea captures the human tendency to devalue the people and things with which we are most familiar.
Jesus said, “a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown” (Matthew 13:57) which aligns with this idea. Jesus was not honored in the place He would have been known best. His own family tried to stop His ministry, going so far as to say He was out of His mind (Mark 3:21). Most of the people who had the greatest opportunity to know Him missed the reality of who He was, because their familiarity blinded them to His value.
Think about your own life. Relationships within families are often the most strained, because it is those closest to us that see the most flaws. However, the fact that this is true does not make it right. While it is human nature for familiarity to breed contempt, it is not the nature of God. Does God lose appreciation for those He knows best? Of course not. No one loves us more than God and He alone knows us completely. He sees every flaw without allowing any of it to diminish our value in His sight. When God looks at a person, He is not unaware of the sin and darkness, but He has the capacity to see His intention despite corruption. God draws people to repentance and salvation by speaking into their potential and instilling hope! Thank God He didn’t allow Adam’s sin to determine His expectation for our future! He looked at humanity and saw the possibility of redemption. God can see who He made a person to be regardless of where they have been. This doesn’t mean He overlooks sin, but that He always calls us out of sin by allowing us to see who He is and who He created us to be.
One of the best examples of this is found in the story of a man originally called Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a self-described Pharisee of Pharisees (one of the people Jesus called snakes, hypocrites, white-washed tombs, and children of hell in Matthew 23:13-39). Saul was a Jewish religious leader who opposed the rise of Christianity more fiercely than anyone. He persecuted Christians, torturing and killing many followers of Jesus. He himself oversaw the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It would be hard to imagine someone further away from salvation than he was. However, Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus in a blinding light and revealed Himself as the Son of God. He commanded Saul to go into the city to await further instructions. Saul, or Paul, was blind for three days and was led by the Lord to a disciple named Ananias. Ananias had a vision in which Jesus told him to go lay his hands on Paul so he could regain his sight. Ananias took it upon himself to remind the Lord who they were talking about. He said,
‘“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”’
Jesus responded, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel…” (Acts 9:13-15)
I believe Ananias’ response is understandable considering Paul’s past. However, we will limit what God can do in a person’s life through us if we don’t see them the way God sees them. Our call as believers is to come into agreement with the truth God declares over a person, even if we don’t see how it could be fulfilled. Saul didn’t look like a “chosen instrument” when Ananias met him, but Ananias chose to come into agreement with what God declared about Paul. The first recorded words he spoke to him were “Brother Saul…” He chose not to see him as the Pharisee, persecutor, and murderer he had been, and instead called him “brother.”
It is so easy to allow what we know of someone to overshadow the truth of who God has called them to be. If we look only with our natural eyes and take inventory of the negative experiences we’ve had, it will be easy to devalue ourselves and others. It is especially easy to do this with the people closest to us, because we see their flaws more clearly than anyone else. No one knows you better than your spouse, your children, your family, and your close friends. It is in those relationships especially that we must guard against contempt bred by familiarity. We must be careful not to allow what we know of someone’s past or shortcomings to shape our view of them, even if they have not yet changed. If someone close to you has let you down multiple times in a particular area, it may be difficult for you to believe they will ever change. However, God never stops believing in us and we must allow Him to shape our hearts and our expectations for those around us. Love and humility will keep contempt from taking root! 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says,
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
God, in His love and grace, can always see who we can be washed in the blood of His Son. We must choose to come into agreement with Him. He called David to be king when he was a shepherd disregarded by even his own father (1 Samuel 16). He called Gideon a “mighty man of courage” while he was still afraid of his own family (Judges 6:11-24). When God looks at someone, He always loves and always sees the person they can be if they will choose to follow Him!
This truth is important in our own lives as well. You are not defined by your past any more than Paul was defined by his past. Paul was a chosen instrument of God, not a murderer. In the halls of history, he is not remembered for his sin. He received the grace of God and became a messenger of heaven to Gentiles, Kings, and every believer who reads what the Holy Spirit wrote via Paul’s pen. No life could be further away from salvation than Saul’s, and yet, he was completely transformed by the Gospel. Every man and woman on earth is created with purpose, and He has called us to see people the way He sees them. Familiarity does not have to breed contempt if we are renewed by the Holy Spirit and filled with the hope of heaven!
This week, I encourage you to ask God, as I did, if there are any familiar areas you’ve allowed bitterness or contempt to contaminate your heart because of past experiences. Has what you “know” of someone, or something kept you from hearing what God would say? How much more hope would we have for our families, our churches, our cities, our nation, the global Body of Christ, and the world, if we could see His intention instead of the circumstances? What is He saying that we haven’t heard because we’ve allowed
contempt to contaminate our faith? Even now, allow the purity and sweetness of His presence to break off everything that would hinder you from seeing as He sees. He has such good things for us! It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom of heaven, and He will do above and beyond all we can ask or imagine, if we will just believe Him!
No Comments