Judgement prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.– Wayne Dyer
Hey guys,
Hope you had a good and productive week and if not, I hope it was filled with learning materials as Lauryn Hill once said, life is about learning and mastership.
This week, I wanted to talk about judgment; I know it is a pretty touchy and heavy subject because people will either think or say, “I don’t judge” or have said “I am not judging but I am just saying” or the next thought is probably the viral challenge “we listen, and we don’t judge.” The reality is WE DO… we judge… it doesn’t matter if it is about how someone is dressed, or what they’ve said, or pictures they’ve posted, even the way they comb their hair’ we judge it, we judge ALL THE TIME. I believe the reason why we judge is to compare our level of success in whatever to another person.
I know what you are going to say, “but the bible tells us to judge them by their fruits”. Now, judging a persons fruits and judging who they are; isn’t that same thing. Let us first define what judging means; according to brother Google (lol), Judging is to form an opinion or conclusion about someone. Lets make the difference:
Judging fruits
In Matt 7:16-20 Jesus states ” you will know them by their fruits.”, this passage was intended to help discern false teacher and prophets. As believers we are to be careful the people we listen to or read about to determine if they are sheep’s in wolves clothing or the real deal.
Judging others
However, judging people is based on judging the person as they are and their circumstances; THAT is what God says no no no to.
In several passages (a few of them I will mentioned as we go on) we are warned against judging others. A perfect example of judging a person would be Snoop Dog; we all know who he is, what he does and his raps songs but what we didn’t know is that he ALWAYS had a desire to make a gospel album but because of who he is and what he has rapped about; he KNEW the Christian world would judge him and condemn Christian artist that worked with him. A few years back, he finally made his dream a reality and fulfilled that desire. Why do I bring this up? We formed an opinion about him that he is a lost cause; we drew conclusion of him that he can’t possibly love God nor know who He is. When in reality he had this hidden desire in his heart to sing praise to God. Due to his fear of judgement from the Christian world, he felt shame, and felt rejected; I can only imagine that he felt he wasn’t good enough to sing praises to God or pure at all to lift God’s name up. This fear of judgement delayed him from experiencing an encounter with God. Where is he now??? I have no idea but, I do know we need to keep him and his family in prayer so God may continue to encounter him and fill him up with the Holy Spirit. We keep forgetting that when the bible tells you to come as you are, God truly means COME AS YOU ARE… because radical changes happens from inside out, not outside in. Jesus will change your heart first before he changes your habits. Our judgement of people causes them to feel dejected, rejected, ashamed, abandoned, neglected, alienated and more. Jesus died on the cross for the lost and broken; so it is our assignment to point them to Jesus. (Sorry, went on a bit of a tangent).
The reason, I brought this subject up because I expressed judgement. So during Resurrection Sunday, an old friend of mine sent a GIF to a group chat that I am on; it was a rabbit sitting on eggs smoking a carrot stick. I got so annoyed and YES, I JUDGED her. I was on the phone with my sister when the message came through, I told my sister what the message was about and proceeded to say, “How can you say you believe in Jesus, but you also believe in smoking weed for recreational purposes especially on resurrection Sunday” (Please do not judge me, in Eden, it is a safe space, just let me make it to the end). So my wonderful sister said to me, everyone has their own walk and timing with God; just because you are in a different space with God doesn’t mean she is any less saved nor a believer; instead of being annoyed with her and the post, why not pray for her. Ooooohhhhhhh, that hit my chest like a ton of bricks at that moment but guess what? I completely forgot about that moment once it past, until the Lord brought it back to my memory last week Saturday; I was talking with that same old friend and reminiscing about our younger days. The Lord reminded me of what my sister said, the sin I committed and that I need to repent (I have not repented yet, I am literally doing that as I type).
In the bible, there are about 37 passages that warn against judging others and the curse associated with it, just to mention a few examples:
- Matt 7:1-5 Do not judge or you too will be judged… by the same measure you judged…
- James 4: 11-12 … Anyone who speaks a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you- who are you to judge your neighbor.
- Rom 2:1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself because you who pass judgement do the same things.
- Rom 2:3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
- Rom 14:10-13 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: ” As surely as I live” says the Lord, “every knee will acknowledge God.” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore, let us STOP PASSING JUDGEMENT on one another.
- I Cor 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.
In just the few passages, we see that the common theme is do not judge others because
- God will judge you based on the level of judgement you passed on others.
- If you speak against your brother or sister you are judging the law which mean you- yourself are not keeping the law. How dare you judge your neighbor for not keeping a law when you can’t keep it either.
- When you judge others, you are condemning yourself.
- To condemn mean to pronounce a sentence of punishment; can you imagine pronouncing a sentence of punishment on yourself when Jesus died on the cross just so you escape sentencing and punishment for ALL your sins (smh, scary).
- You will give an account of yourself to God.
- EVERY single thing you’ve done and said you will (not have to but WILL) give an account for.
- Do not judge anything because ONLY God knows and sees everything. In its right time, He will expose what is hidden.
All these passages show me that, forming an opinion about someone is so easy to do especially in the world we live in that is ALWAYS asking you for your opinion about other people. We are not called to form opinions and come to conclusions about people, we were called to serve, give and pray for them. How do we stop judging others?
- Die to self everyday.
- Jesus, more of you; less of me.
- Put on the armor of God everyday.
- When you have a thought or an opinion about someone; literally say or think “that is not my thought”
- When you do that, you’ve taken the thought captive and now laid it at the feet of Jesus.
- Repeat
My prayer of repentance:
My Lord, my God, I come before you in humble prostration thanking you for sending your Son to die on the cross in my stead. He took the judgement and punishment for me so I wouldn’t have to. I come before you to repent and ask for forgiveness; Lord please forgive me for judging my friend, it is not my place to form a conclusion of her walk with you but Lord I thank you for placing me in close proximity to her to know her and see her and bring her to you in prayer. Father, I ask for forgiveness for grieving the Holy spirit by being disobedient in my delay to repent. Father, I think you for Your forgiveness and Your love. I bring my friend before you tonight; I ask that You shower her with Your love and Your presence that is so undeniable that will cause her to fall so deep in love with You, she will want nothing more then to dwell in your presence in Eden. Let her experience You in such a way that reminds her You are Abba Father, her closest friend. Father, I asked that you continue to fill me up and reveal to me areas in my life, my heart and my soul I need to lay down before You; I thank you for a continuation of refinement and I also ask for the discipline and strength to remain in the state of refinement; Father my heart cries for less of me and more of you. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.