Hello ,
We cannot POSSIBLY know what any person has been through in their lives, and how they arrived at the person that they have become just my merely observing them!
There are too many layers...
There can be too much baggage that they carry
from a world of hurt...
They don't always show us what has really happened, or what is currently going on...
I've heard people say, "Oh, I know all about THEM!"
How can we? We're not them!
"And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and
anointing them with the perfume." Luke 7:37-38
"Awkward! What was she thinking?"
One can almost hear the cultural equivalent of what people MUST have been thinking as they watched this broken and scandalous woman doting on Jesus, and kissing His feet...
...a prostitute...
...a woman of ill-repute...
...she sold her body for money...
...how could anyone EVER do that?
Please insert any conversation that you have had in your head (or with someone else) about someone else who you looked down upon in this life.
I've done it...and what I see when I look at myself during those moments is NOT attractive! I've often put others down so that I can feel better about myself. After pointing my judgmental finger at them and how far THEY have sunk, I somehow felt better about what a wretch I've been.
How twisted is that? I'm ashamed to admit to any of it...but maybe someone reading can relate.
The thought of these judgmental moments causes my throat to clench. How could I do that to someone that God
loves so much, and that Jesus came to die for?
When I look with disdain upon someone who God sacrificed His Son for, how can I even THINK that I am able to classify myself as a Christian?
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the
time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5
I have NO business talking about others in hurtful and judgmental ways...especially when
I've got a 2x4 in my own eye. Only as I daily allow Christ to help me with the plank, can I see clearly enough to help someone else remove their own speck. When God is in control, I will do that in helpful and loving ways.
Have a great day and
God bless!
Pastor Mike / The Open Word
Spiritual Thoughts for Life's Journey!
