Judging Others

The other night, as I was reading Romans 12, God really spoke to me.  Romans 12:3 says, “For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you: do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought.”  Later, verses nine through ten say, “Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil ; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.”

 

Today, I was reading Karen Kingsbury’s Shades of Blue.  In it, one of the characters was facing a difficult situation and was studying and trying to live out Luke 6:37 which says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged...”

 

Lately, God has been teaching me about pride and judgment.  I hesitated to write this post because I didn’t want others to judge me...because admitting my sins wounds my pride.  However, I want to be real; and one of the purposes of this blog is to record what God is teaching me so that I don’t forget.  So, here goes...I often struggle with pride and being judgmental. 

 

Surprisingly, I do not judge other people’s sins or their Christian walk or lack there of.  I have always been very compassionate and merciful when it came to sins.  I know that there are too many sins in my life for me to judge others.  I learned long ago the truth of the words in Luke 6:41 that state, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” 

 

Because I was so careful not to judge others’ sins, I never really took time to consider the verses that dealt with judging others or being prideful.  I always thought, “Well, I’m ok there.  I don’t do that.”  However, lately, God has been convicting me of the hidden sins in my heart.  (I love how God’s word is alive and active and able to convict me and speak to me through verses I’ve read probably dozens of times.)  My judgment is limited to the “non-spiritual” things.  I judge other people’s appearances – I often try to figure out if someone is confident/shy or wealthy or fashion-savvy by they way they are dressed.  I judge people’s parenting styles (though I must say, I do this much less now that I am a parent!) - I’ll see a parent doing something or a child doing something while their parent watches and I’ll think, “They are not handling that appropriately.  If I were them, I’d...” or “I’d never let my child do that.”  I judge people’s intelligence by the way they talk or their grammar on Facebook (just being honest).  All of a sudden, it was as if God hit me over the head and said, “You’re judging my children!  You’re thinking of yourself more highly than you ought!  You’re not honoring others above yourself!  You’re sinning!”

 

As a Christian, I am called to love others, and God’s word says in Romans 12:9 that love is sincere.  It’s genuine, heartfelt, earnest!  If my love is to be like that, there is no room for judgment.  I can’t love someone sincerely while I am secretly thinking I am a better dresser or a better parent or more intelligent or whatever! 

 

Lord, forgive me for my pride and my judgment.  Thank you for Your word that pierces my heart when I least expect it.  Help me to love your people sincerely and remember my place...a servant of YOU!