Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living©
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
(Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV))
There is an old saying about giving as good as you get. Is that how we want to be known? Can we honestly say that when we judge others we expect to to be judged in like manner?
Think about that for a moment.
When we jump to conclusions and judge someone in a harsh manner, are we ready to receive in like kind? In other words, can we take it as well as we give it?
Judgment is such a funny thing. We have a tendency to judge quickly and apologize slowly. We have a tendency to jump to conclusions about someone even though we may not know anything about them.
Several years ago, a man came to my church for a revival service. It was on a weekday evening and he came and sat down. He was dirty and smelly and did not look like he had bathed in days. It would have been so easy to judge him and turn our backs on him. It would have been so easy to simply shun this person until he went away. And, to quote a famous saying, now for the rest of the story.
This man was relatively new to the area. If I remember correctly, he was visiting his brother who lived a few miles away. He owned a small construction company and had been on a job site all day and was going back to his brother’s house. He saw the sign out front advertising the revival and stopped. By all appearances, he was not what everyone expected him to be. He turned out to be an individual who brought life to our church through his energy and his desire to know and serve God. In fact, at one point during his stay in our area, he single handedly re-roofed a different church that had been set on fire.
Judgment is a funny thing. We only see the surface and then not clearly. In all of our frailties and shortcomings, we are not worthy to judge. Only God sees the heart. Only God is worthy to judge.
Will God reward you for your faith and acceptance, or will He judge you for your misguided judgment of others?
Copyright 1998 – 2010 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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