HERE COME DA JUDGE

Excuse the poor English, but I can remember a while back hearing this expression used either by the late comic Flip Wilson or on Rowan and Martins 'Laugh In' sketch. Talk about dating myself. My younger readers are going, "Say what?" Try not to be that judge because our assignment in life is not to pick people apart and criticize them.  But how many of us tend to judge something by sight without knowing the whole story? If we look at people through the eyes of Christ it will be easier to not condemn them or find fault.  Let God do the judging and you do the loving. 

Is there anyone who has not at one time or other looked at someone and formed an opinion about them without knowing 'their story' or situation? Unless you were raised in a perfect atmosphere then it has probably happened. Example of one would be a cell phone ringing in church and the person whose it was has no clue it is their phone ringing  because they never bring it in church with them.It is a total accident. Perhaps looking at someone who is overweight and not realizing they maybe have an illness or injury  that prevents them from working out. It is easy to form opinions such as looking at people with tattoos and thinking they are all bad which we know is not the case.  In John 7:24 it says ,"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Whether getting a tattoo is right or wrong is not our problem. What God wants from us is to love and let go of a judgmental attitude. 

 Matthew 7:1 says to "Judge not less you be judged." Romans 14:2 reads, "Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him." Just like the woman caught in adultery where people were saying to stone her and Jesus said "Go and sin no more."  (See John 8:1-11). We can fall into a trap of being a self righteous judge acting like we are better because we do not do such and such or go to this place or that place. Be on your guard against this. Let God convict people of sin and wrong. You do not need to condemn them.

One of my favorite verses dealing with judgmental attitudes is Matthew 7:3 which says ""And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own?" Another catchy way to illustrate this is "why worry about the toothpick in your friends eye when you have a telephone pole in your own eye?"

"We all have sinned and fallen short of Gods' glory" it says in Romans 3:23. Our enemy the devil likes us to keeping judging as doing it separates us from God and makes us have condemning spirits and not loving ones. Be aware if you are falling into the trap of doing this and ask for God to deliver you from it. We are will stand before God's judgment seat so let us let him do the judging. (See 2 Corinthians 5:10).

PRAYER: Father help us look at all people through your eyes and not from the eyes of condemnation. We know it is not our job to pick people apart. Give us the grace to show love and kindness to even those we may not see eye to eye with. Give us Christian love for those around us. Help us let you be the judge and we be your hands and feet in this world. In Jesus Name. Amen!