Let Us Stop Judging Others and Start Living!

I know that at some point in your life you have looked at someone and uttered these words, “if I were them I would have…” You can fill in the blank.  We like to walk around and look at people that we have deemed worse than us, and judge them.  It makes us feel good about ourselves, we like to think that our sin is not as bad as their sin.  What does it get us, to go around make others feel like they are not as good as we are.  It truly gets us nowhere.  In fact Christ talks about this in Matthew he said; “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged.  For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged.  And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye^* when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”(Matthew 7:1-5)

Christ is telling us that we are not to go around and look down at them only to make ourselves feel better about whom we are.  We must take a look at ourselves and realize that we too are sinners, we are no better than anyone else.  We are to realize that even if we have been serving God for years at one point in our lives we too were full of sin.  We must learn to respect each person, to love them as Christ loves them.  When we see a fellow Christian struggling we are to help them, we are not to judge them or look at them and think we are better than them.  Christ is not telling us to ignore sin in others, He is telling us to have compassion and love for them.  We read a about an event in John chapter eight about how the leaders of the Jewish church wanted to trap Christ so they found a woman who was committing adultery and brought her Christ and asked what should we do with her? This how He responded, “All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!” ⁸ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.  When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”(John 8:7-11)

Notice how He never condemns or belittles her, He shows her love, then at the end He tells “go and sin no more.’  He shows her much more respect than those who felt they were better than her.  He respected her and wanted her to know that she was loved.  If we want to see lives changed and people coming to know the love of God we must stop feeling that we are better than they are, all sin is equal in the eyes of God.  It all separates us from God’s love, we must learn to be humble to treat people with love.  To understand that they may not accept our love or God’s love but we are to never look down on them and feel that we are better.  If we truly want to live life we must accept the love of God and realize that we are to live sharing the love of God, not trying to point out that we are better.   

What Should We Our Expectations Be?

I have friends who when they were single and dating thought that once they got married that everything would get better.  That they were going to have more money because they have two incomes, that things were just suddenly be better because they are now married.  Now for those of us who are married know that life doesn’t get easier once your married, but it brings on different problems.  Such as  you really do not have more money, but you have more bills.  Yet many people put all kinds of strange expectations on God, they believe that God is going to suddenly make life better.  In fact many people seem to think that if God doesn’t do what they want, then He must not exist.  Some believe that God is going make there bank account grow and do all kinds of neat things in their lives.  I do not know for sure where many of these expectations come from, but we need to stop expecting these things.

Let us take a second and look at the people who walked with Christ and talked with Christ personal.  These men did not go and pray for wealth, they did not pray for good health.  In fact, it is amazing what they did pray for, after being sent to prison and going through a trial for healing a cripple this is what their prayer was. “That is what has happened here in this city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. In fact, everything they did occurred according to your eternal will and plan. And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching.  Send your healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they preached God’s message with boldness.”(Acts 4:27-31)  Did you notice that what they are praying not for comfort or why did you let us go to prison?  They asked for courage to go forward in the ministry God had placed before them.

I want you to think about this for a second, what would happen if our focus shifted from what can I get from God.  What if we shifted our thinking and prayers to what can God do through me for the ministry He has placed before me.  What if we stopped expecting God to take care of us in the way the world thinks God should take care us?  What if we  started asking God to show us what He desires us to do for His kingdom, and then ask Him to give us the courage to go do what it is that God wants us to do.  I can tell you this is what we need to be doing, we need to ask God to give us the courage to move forward in our relationship with Him, to not hide behind our fears and to allow us to be example to the world of His love.  We need to be letting people know that we are no longer going to live for us but we are to live for God.  

How Should We Approach Lent?

It is that time of year where we as Christians come together and prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.  Many Christians look at this season as time to give up something to in return grow closer to God. It is a time for fasting and reflecting on the sacrifice of Christ’s body on the cross.  I have come to wonder in the last few years if Lent has become more about bragging about what one gives ups, or a diet  plan for seasoned believers?  I truly have no issue with people who participate in lent and believe that it is a good thing to do.  But I also believe that maybe we forgotten about how to go about it, the reality is lent is not in the bible.  No where do we find instructions on lent or that we are to do lent.   Yet it has found itself on the church calendar.  It is my understanding that it started early in church history but it appears that no one seems to know when or how. 

As I said before I find that Lent can be and should be a helpful part in our walk with Christ, now since it is a season of fasting let us take a look at what Christ tells about fasting.  In Matthew 6:16-18 Christ says this’ “when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will suspect you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in secret. And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.”  What lessons can we take from what Christ told the people about fasting?  First is that we should not be going around telling everyone that we fasting or what we have given up.  Lent season is not a contest to see who can give up the most.  This was a common practice among the religious types when Christ walked the earth they would walk around and let people know that they were fasting.  There are still some people out there who do the same thing, they want to receive praise and glory from people.  Make sure that you are not bragging to others about what you are doing. 

Make sure that whatever you give up is going to bring you closer to God.  Don’t say I’m giving up sugar since I need to lose a few pounds anyway.  If you decide to give sugar then do because you want to be reminded of the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross.  Each time you want to want to grab a cookie and you don’t eat one, remember the sacrifice and thank God for His love.  When you are having that headache from sugar or caffeine withdrawal and you will have it, remember the cross and the beatings Christ took for your sins and praise God for your salvation.  Maybe you have decided to give up television, then make sure that the time you would have spent watching T.V. is spent studying God’s word and praying.  Remember fasting is about growing closer to God.  It is not about bringing glory to us but it is about bringing glory to God.  If you decide to Fast this Lent make out a plan, let those close to know about it, not to brag but so they may help you do it.  If you decided to give up candy or caffeine, don’t make a big deal about it to everyone.  Let us make this Lenten season about God.