Love & Judgment
Saturday's Devotion (3-24-07)
"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." Romans 2:1 (KJV)
This is very interesting: Did you know that when you judge someone else for something, you are confessing what they did was wrong and when you turn around and do the same things you no longer have an excuse. You can't say, "I didn't know it was wrong," because you already admitted that you knew and therefore since you know... You are held more responsible for it. You are held less responsible for sin when you do not know that it's sin! So, if someone lies to you and you say, "That person is going to hell for that lie!" Guess what? I know that there isn't one person on this planet that hasn't lied, myself included. I still at times catch myself lying. So, if I judged you for lying what would that make me? A hypocrite, and inexcusable! I can't make excuses, because I already judged you for it so I knew it was wrong. So, if I said you were going to hell for lying, basically I'd be saying that I'm going to hell for lying! There probably isn't one sin in the book that any of us could say we haven't committed (Besides the unforgivable one.) Incase you don't know, the unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: Not against the Father or the Son, but against the Holy Spirit! Although all blasphemies are bad, this particular one against the Spirit is unforgivable. Now, some think that they have committed this sin and they worry about it... I have fell into this trap myself, so to clear it up: Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is speaking against Him! I am not an expert on the subject, so I'll let someone else get into that with you.
Basically, what we're getting to is that we need to leave the judging up to the Lord. Judging is His job, our job is to simply love the Lord and one another. Now, while we can't judge one another, there are times when we need to step in and tell people they're going down the wrong road. We need to tell them these things out of love for them, and not out of judgment. For example: You're riding to work one day with a friend, and you notice that they have drugs in their car. You don't want to judge them, but you certainly want to talk to them in a friendly manner and lead them to the right path... Because you love them and don't want to see them get hurt, not because you want to condemn them! Not because you want to hurt them further. In my opinion, love and judgment are totally different things. When people judge you, it's because they aren't loving you. When people love you, they tell you things to help you. While my dad was a smoker himself, when I was about 17 (Or sometime before,) I started smoking those big cigars. My dad, out of love, not out of judgment said, "You don't want to make the same mistake I did, you don't want to get addicted like me. These things are nothing, but cancer sticks." Now, if he were judging me he would've said, "Oh, you're smoking? That's so wrong!! You're going to be in trouble for that!" I mean, I don't know how to explain it properly. My example there doesn't seem too good LOL, but that's the truth. He did tell me those things. When you love someone you have concern for them, and that's not judgment. Just make sure that the words you speak are out of love.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins as we forgive all those who've wronged us. Help us to love one another and especially to love you. Don't let us judge each other and be hypocrites. In Jesus name. A-men!
God bless