- Matthew 7:1-5
I was trying to think of a topic to write about for the last couple of days and was not having much luck - then thanks to a political Facebook thread I wandered into today, I found the perfect subject: Grace and Judgement.
Facebook seems to be the place where people feel free to take what should be a private thought (some probably not even then), and place it online for the world to see. Things that would never be said in public are fearlessly typed and posted - offense is taken and the offended person then takes their should-not-be-uttered thoughts and blasts them out into cyberspace toward the offendee. Further offense is taken and more offense is dished out. It quickly dissolves into a vicious circle where everyone is e-shouting and nobody is e-listening - everyone is right and everyone is wrong at the same time.
Judgment and wrath are doled out while grace (whenever offered) is usually trampled on by declarations of supremacy.
Today's thread left me feeling discouraged and sad and made me question why I even bother dipping my toe into those kinds of topics. The question posted was actually a very thoughtful, but the answers that came pouring in were, for the most part, anything but.
The Internet seems to be a place where manors are thrown out of the window, but just because we are having a discussion online does not mean that we should feel free to de-humanize people. As Christians we are called to love; always. We are called to examine the situation of our own hearts before worrying about the condition of another person's life. Look at the verse at the top again ... the measure that you use to judge will be the measure used to judge you - yikes.
Recently, I read this verse and was hit with another one of those spiritual bricks that shook my entire foundation. I started examining the inner-thoughts and judgements in my heart and realized that I am much more flawed than I give myself credit for. Since then, I have made it a regular point in my prayer to ask for forgiveness for judgment I pass on others. I ask for help in identifying when the judgemental me begins to raise up, and I ask for help in muting that voice in hopes that God will transform my heart to the point where I see others through Christ's eyes instead of through my self-superior view. I don't know if I'll ever get to a point where I am able to go through a day without this sin raising it's ugly head, but I am hopeful. Currently I have problems with judging people who I deem to be judgemental ... hypocrite? Yes, I am.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.
- James 3:9
Only once I admitted that I was double-minded, that I was a hypocrite, that I was judgemental and self-righteous, was I able to allow God to begin working on me. When I held onto the belief that I was okay and that I did not have a problem with judging; I put my faith in my own power, in my own pride. This pride in turn, allowed me to feel that I was better at not judging than others - which in itself was a judgement on them. Double-minded? Yes, I am.
We need to confess our judgement before the Judge. We need to admit that we are not always right. We need to realize that the person on the other end of the blog / forum / post is a human - that they were created in God's likeness just as we were. We need to learn to repay ugliness with kindness, judgement with forgiveness, death with life. We must bend our knees and submit ourselves so God can work us toward the perfection that He has for us.
I am hopeful that some day I will be free from this sin. I've admitted that I will not be able to do this on my own, but I know that God can mould me to the point where my first reaction is love and compassion.
Some day I hope to see the world as He sees it, though I fear that my heart may break if that truly happens.
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