Judging Others

Matthew 7:1 says, �Judge not, that you be not judged.� That�s how it reads in the ESV of God�s word. In The Message, which is the Eugene Petterson paraphrase, it reads like this, �Don�t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults�unless, of course, you want the same treatment.�
I love to read �My Utmost For His Highest, a devotional book by Oswald Chambers, compiled by his wife after his death and in continuous print since 1935. As I sat reading it a few years ago, the message for the day was about being critical of others. He wrote, �The average Christian is one of the most piercingly critical individuals known.� He went on to say, �Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others.� My Utmost For His Highest June 17th
When I read those words I cried and cried. My conscious was pricked by those stinging words and it hurt a lot. At that time I was being especially critical and judgmental towards certain people in my life and God used those famously penned words to bring rebuke, correction, conviction, confession, repentance and change - change that is in constant ebb and flow as I grow in the knowledge of Him.
Please don�t think this task was by any means easy, because it wasn�t and isn�t. If I don�t draw near and press in to God, my natural bent is toward being critical of myself and others. As a Christian, this simply will not do.
Jesus� words to the people ready to stone the woman caught in adultery are words that come often to my mind in the midst of being critical. �He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.� John 8:7. While I pursue blameless living I am far from sinless. Who am I to look at the faults and failures of others and be critical? �Search me O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.� Psalms 139:23-24

My Challenge For You:
If you find you can relate in anyway to what I�ve shared today, go to God now, confess and allow His spirit to transform your heart in this area. You�ll be so glad you did!

Stephanie

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