Judge Not, Love Much

Recently I have become acutely sensitive when I hear colleagues, friends and family members being critical and judgmental of others.   I too am guilty of this, but I am trying to stop myself when judgmental thoughts invade my brain.  None of us likes to be judged, and perhaps it is because of our insecurities and how we judge ourselves that leads us to judge others.  

We judge each other on appearance, intelligence, success, wealth, lifestyle, behaviors and so on.  We judge people we know and people who are complete strangers.  

Have you ever smiled or said, "hello" to a stranger and were ignored or received a glare in response?  Have you ever walked past a person with their hand out asking for help and thought, "why don't they get a job" or "if I give them money they will just go spend it on booze"?  Have you ever been critical of someone who is overweight, drinks too much, sleeps too much, can't hold down a job, dresses weird or is just plain grouchy?   

Matthew 7: 1-5 ¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person’s eye.

 Most of the time we don't know the truth about a person.  What is it that they experiencing or have experienced in life that leads them to behave in certain ways? 

Perhaps the person who did not return your smile or hello had just lost a loved one, or has a sick child, or is struggling financially or just didn't hear or see you.   

Perhaps the person who needed a hand out is on the street because they have run away from an abusive relationship, or can't find a job and the unemployment check is only enough to pay the rent to shelter the family, but not enough to feed them.

What if, instead of judging people, we start thinking about them in a different way.   Instead of judging people what if we give them grace and love them, as God does with us, unconditionally.  

By nature, we are weak and we need to rely on each other to be stronger and help each other up, not tear down and push each other away.  If you are on the receiving end of judgment, don't let those who are judging control you or your emotions. It is enough to know that God is the only one we need to please and he forgives us and loves us unconditionally, if we open our hearts to him. 

1 John 4:12 (KJV) ¹²No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

I pray that you are filled with the spirit of grace and love, perfected by God and that it shines  through you to someone else today.  I pray that God blesses you and makes you strong, confident and accepting of yourself regardless of how others may judge you. 

I am not sure who receives these messages or reads this blog, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and tell you that I love you and welcome your comments.