God has dealt with me on being
judgmental. In the past year and a half I have been aware of four different
persons, whom I know or have met, who have been accused of transgressing legal
or moral laws. Yet, each of these people has need of the Savior. I presently
have contact with two of these people.
Below is a journal entry where a
woman crashes a dinner to honor Jesus.
_______________________
3/11/2004
Luke 7:36-50
A woman with
a ‘past’—a sinful background—dared to enter a Pharisee’s home during a dinner
party the host had planned for Jesus. The woman brought with her a vial of
expensive ointment. She broke it open and applied it to His feet. She began to
cry, her tears wetting His feet. She knelt down and wiped his feet with her
hair.
The host objected, thinking to
himself, ”If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and
what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus pointed out that this woman
had honored him while the host had ignored the basic amenities of His role. The
host hadn’t provided water for His feet or oil for Jesus’ head. But this woman
had anointed His feet with a costly fragrant ointment and cleansed His feet
with her tears.
We are to honor Jesus with our
hearts, with our words, our deeds, our thoughts, and even our very lives.
Sometimes, we slip and fall into the rut of ‘honoring’ Him by lip service. We
need to repent of being ‘cultural’ in our thinking. Do we look down on someone
just because he or she might have messed up a long time ago? Do we look down on
someone because he or she lives differently than we do?
In honoring Jesus, we are to extend
grace and mercy to all we meet. We are to remember that God, through Jesus,
extended grace and mercy to us who were once sinners and we are to do likewise.
******************
Update on
thoughts;
Have I been a victim of judgmentalism? Has my family? I believe so. but I have to give my feelings over to God and let Him deal with those who have passed judgment on me and mine.
Each day I learn NOT to be judgmental toward those with whom I come in contact. I am reminded of the adage, "There but for the grace of God,goes me."
A very good day to you Quiet Spirit,
ReplyDeleteAs I read this, the first thing that came to my mind when Jesus faced a crowd eager to execute a woman caught in adultery. He put a stop to it with a simple challenge: let he who is without sin cast the first stone. An excellent reminder to avoid judging others.
We have all fallen short of God's glory.
Praising God and thanking Him for His grace.
God bless you.
Kerrie
Kerrie:
DeleteThank you for stopping in. You referred to one of my favorite stories in the Gospels.
I actually learned how judgmental I was from a blogger. She left a comment pointing it out...I was shocked at myself, and unaware! Guess that is why the saints teach us to know ourselves, the more we know ourselves the more we realize the greatness of God.
ReplyDeleteAnnamarie: I learned about my jugdmental self in doses. It wasn't easy when someone critiqued a devotion that I thought was spot on. She told me basically I was pointing fingers at those who would read the piece. Many years ago I said something to someone in cautioning her I didn't want to hear about what she was saying. We are cautious around each other to this day.
Delete