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Welcome Back to
My Brother's Keeper
Judge Not That Ye Be Not Judged
Step #9
Welcome back my friend!
I trust you're being patient. The rewards of your patience in taking
one step per day is a better ending.
2 Thessalonians 3:5
And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the
patient waiting for Christ.
Glad you're back,
because there's more exciting things to learn about representing. In
this step we will be looking into a very important matter.
This is an important lesson that Jesus taught, and one that is too
easily forgotten. You'll want to be extremely careful not to become
judgmental of people. That is not our job as those called to
represent. We are all human and we all have faults, so to judge
another person for their faults is dangerous business. Let's see what
else Jesus said about this:
Matthew 7:2-5
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and
with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the
mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own
eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy
brother's eye.
Never forget that some people haven't found the wisdom that you have
found, as quickly as you have in their lives. As one who represents,
you always want to have compassion on people who haven't found Truth
yet. Keep in mind, that doesn't mean to give up on them ... You must
stand firm and persist in your efforts to reach them, and at the same
time, remember what it was like before you found Truth.
As you may well know, judgment of others usually begins very early in
life, in early school years and we know it commonly as bullying. Oft
times, children think they are better than others, causing them to
call other children names and/or pick on other children. Once
children learn this or observe this, it is difficult for them not to
do this openly or even just within their mind to others. This is a
sad thing. It's so important to teach the children well.
There were religious leaders during Jesus' time called ...
"Pharisees" which judged Jesus every chance they could. If you read
the Gospels, you'll find that they followed Jesus from place to place
criticizing Him and testing Him and judging Him, until finally, they
crucified Him. These were the religious leaders of the people back
then, people who most others trusted in their judgment because they
were educated in the laws of Moses and the Holy Scriptures, and they
were very dedicated to following them to the letter. They were well
respected, so people went along with their opinions about Jesus and
they denied Him as their Lord and Savior, even though scripture told
of the Messiah that would save them from their sins, through the
prophets for thousands of years.
Jesus encountered these rascals, the "Pharisees," and you will learn
what He said and did in response to their attacks in this step. Many
Christians and even religious leaders of our own day, judge other
people by their age, clothes they wear, the length of their hair,
which side of town they live on, the color of their skin, past
experiences and mistakes they have made, particular beliefs, etc ...
It's very sad that these people, who consider themselves to be better
than another of God's children (even though, they know in their
hearts that they were also forgiven of their sins of the past, and
received God's Grace and still sin) and that these people would find
it necessary to judge another, in some vain attempt to appear to
uplift themselves ... Pretending to be doing a God service (something
good for God).
John 16:1-3
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not
be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God
service.
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they
have not known the Father, nor me.
Their view makes the Cross, of no effect.
The point is that people that serve God and think they are here to
judge may think they are serving God but they are not. They are
serving their own selfish desires to be a judge and their words make
what Jesus did on the Cross as if it were nothing when the Truth is
that when our Lord died for us on the Cross ... It was everything.
There are a few self proclaimed, religious leaders who like to
suggest that law prevails over God's Grace. These rascals demand that
the burden on Christians is to be heavy, so that it makes it
difficult to enter the gates of Heaven. These people have no
compassion, understanding or love for others, in their heart. They
have no concept of the love that God has for His children. Their
desire for self edification, blinds them from the Truth.
It was some self proclaimed (based on one's own say-so) religious
leaders, back in Jesus' day, that were constantly following Jesus
around quoting law. His responses were so compelling that they ran
away in fear and confusion. They became so afraid of losing their
high places, that they devised a plan and had Jesus crucified ...
They used laws to do it. They claimed they were doing a God service.
They were wrong !!!
But, God had a plan and His Will ... Was done.
Jesus said it best, when the self proclaimed religious leaders of
that time brought a woman before Jesus, to be judged for a sin that
she had committed. They asked Jesus what should be done to her,
knowing that the law said that she should be stoned to death ...
Jesus said:
John 8:7
So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said
unto them, He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her.
Beware becoming one of the "holier than thou" teachers of law which
elect to judge the lost, which are potential Christians ... Beware,
lest you find yourself being judged, as you have judged these lost
souls, and you lose God's Grace.
This reminds me of a story:
There was a man, that we will call Mr. Smith, who was sitting in
Church with his wife. He had just dozed off, during the pastor's
sermon, when he awoke to the sound of the collection plate coming
around. He watched as the people next to him put in what they could
afford, which was very little. When the collection plate reached him,
he cleared his throat very loud, as to gain the attention of all
those around him, and put a hundred dollar bill into the collection
plate. When Church was over, he was edging his way through the crowd
towards the front door and saw a statue of Jesus. He thought to
himself, "He needs a haircut and a shave."
On the way to his favorite restaurant for brunch, he came upon a
stoplight and saw one of those people. You know, the ones with
a sign that says "Will work for food". This guy had
long hair, a beard and very dirty, worn out clothing. As he came to a
stop, Mr. Smith rolled up the electric windows in his new Cadillac
and turned his head away from the poor looking man, who was now just
outside his window, with his hand stretched out towards Mr. Smith.
After what seemed like forever, to Mr. Smith, the stoplight turned
green. Before Mr. Smith pulled off, he rolled down the window and
yelled out, "Hey, ya bum, Get a job," and then
sped off laughing.
A few years later, Mr. Smith died of cancer and ended up at God's
Judgment seat. Jesus asked Mr. Smith why it was that he thought he
was worthy to get into Heaven. Mr. Smith said proudly that he donated
a hundred dollars every time his wife could drag him to Church. Jesus
asked if that was the only reason and Mr. Smith said, "Yes, of
course, I have paid for my way into Heaven."
Jesus looked at Mr. Smith and said, "I disagree with you. You failed
to have compassion and love for your fellow man, when the opportunity
arose. You are greedy and selfish and are not worthy to enter
Heaven." Mr. Smith, convicted by Jesus' Words, turned and started
walking away with his head hung low. Then Jesus said, "And, by the
way Mr. Smith ... I am no bum and I do have a job."
The moral of this story is echoed through the Bible.
Matthew 25:40
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me.
What you do to and for others, you do to and for Jesus.
Hebrews 13:2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.
Be kind to strangers, it could be an Angel testing you.
Galatians 2:21
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by Grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
When you truly believe in Jesus and sincerely repent ... God forgives
your sins ... Period!!! So you must choose to forgive others.
Here is the Truth
We're all given the gift of Grace of God, whether we're sheep or
shepherds, rich or poor, old or young or anything in between. To
judge another person who may not have realized the Truth and the
freedom and the beauty and the miracle of God's gift of Grace, is
just flat wrong.
If you ever find yourself judging another, or you recognize someone
else doing that, put an end to it right away with the light of Truth
... God is the only Judge.
This brings up another important Do Not Judge Bible verse topic for us to explore. Though we
are called to represent, we do make mistakes. It happens to
absolutely every human being that ever lived, except for Jesus. We
call it stumbling, or falling down.
There are three ways that people fall, or sin:
- By doing what you know is wrong.
- By not doing what is right.
- By not knowing the difference. (This is falling, not sinning.)
There is only one way to get up:
Accepting God's Grace through believing that Jesus died for our sins,
and repenting (being sincerely sorry).
One of the important qualities of representing is that when you fall
down, you get up!
The page you're about to visit shows that everyone falls. It
happens to even the very best of God's people. Even some of your
Bible heroes.
Be sure to bookmark this page as to be able to return daily.
My Brother's Keeper Steps
9
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