Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; wile those who abstain, abstain in honor the Lord and give thanks to God. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Romans 14:5-9
Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother of sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall give praise to God." So then each of us will be accountable to God. Romans 14:10-12
How many times have you misjudged someone or someone's actions. I know, never...but if you really had to imagine it...I would guess it has been a few. I know this is the case for me. And when I'm speaking about misjudging someone, I talking about the simple little things that take place in a day...the gestures...the tone in voice...the way someone attends or doesn't attend to something said or done...etc. Too often, when we make a judgment about someone based on any number of things in the day, a relationship can me broken or ignored. The difference or the action is judged to be so different that we pull ourselves away from the other person or persons. Unfortunately, we all lose when we do that. This is magnified when we judge people from the religious convictions we hold. I have see people literally leave very close relationships or congregations or whole denominations because one side or person has judged the other side to be wrong or guilty of some sin. The judge somehow not only seems to know what is right and wrong absolutely, they also know how God would judge those other people. Whoa! Talk about stepping over boundaries.
Connection: I don't think we are ever left with the commandment to "Judge one another." If we were, there would be nothing, absolutely nothing different between us and the world as it is in all it brokenness. Rather, we are commanded to "Love one another." Go ahead and see if you notice a difference in your day as you put one or the other of these commandments to life.
Forgiving Lord, again and again we are pulled into your presence as you welcome us by your unconditional grace and love. Your love has the power to change our world and how we view all things. Inspire us to walk within the power of your love as we engage our neighbors so that your loving presence will be reshaping all of our relationships. Amen
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