Lest Ye Be...

Have you ever picked up a book, checked it out of the library, bought it without reading the back cover, without having been told about it, or had known the author first? I doubt it. When we pick books to read, we look deeper than the picture on the front cover. We want to know who wrote it, what it's about, and some reviews from others who have already read it. Our opinion of the book after we read it is based on what we find inside. We may love it even if others hate it or vice versa. But our opinion will be based on what we found out for ourselves.

Why, if we won't judge a book before we know more about it, are we so quick to judge others just from one glance? Yes, I'm speaking to myself. This is one of my biggest struggles. I see and judge the clothes people wear, how they wear their hair, how they speak, or even how they walk.  

Matthew 7:1 says, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." Jesus told the Pharisees who brought the adulterous women before Him, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (John 8:1-8 CSB) We're told in 37 verses not to judge others.

Aren't we lucky God chose not to judge us but to save us? "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). God loved us so much that even though we were sinners, He sent His son to die for us (Romans 5:8). We deserved to be judged, but instead He saved us.

So the next time you start to judge someone by how they look, act, or talk, think about going to a library or bookstore. Those people are the books on a shelf. They all have stories. You haven't heard anything about them or their plot, but you know their author, and their stories are unfinished.

You may be the catalyst that changes their story into one of the greatest love stories ever told. It could also turn it into one of the greatest tragedies. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We all have the same author. Our stories are all different. I Co 15:10 tells us it is by the grace of God that we are saved. Our story was changed because someone loved us instead of judging us and led us to God's saving grace.

I am genuinely grateful that when I stand in judgment, Jesus will stand up for me. As "For the Love of God" by Andrew Ripp goes, I saw mercy. Mercy is seated where the judge should be. Was guilty, guilty and getting out of jail for free."

I am grateful…For the Love of God.