No judgement!

Many religious leaders in Jesus' day were hyper-judgemental. They had a fixed idea of the correct way to behave, but Jesus and his disciples didn't play by their human-made rules. Jesus and his followers were too busy trying to share real, truthful peace with everyone. The leaders were quick to call them out on their behaviour, but Jesus flipped their criticisms over. He pointed out that they were more worried about breaking traditions created by man than breaking God's commandments (Matthew 15:1-9).

The leaders were so fixated on the actions they saw and didn't like, that they completely missed the world-changing, world-fixing heart of Jesus. They judged him for breaking rules without taking a second to figure out why he wanted to do it. But he knew their hearts, and he called them on it. As Jesus reminded them: 'You judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me' (John 8:15-16 NIV).

We can only see someone's actions, but God can see what's going on in their heart. Only God knows all the facts, so let's go to him first before we form an opinion on someone.



So what now? Is someone doing something that's easy to judge? Instead of making comments or even just silently judging them, pray for the person. Then, and only then, if God asks you to chat to them about it, do so.





— SCRIPTURE —

'You judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no one.' John 8:15 NIV
— SOULFOOD —

Isa 4-7, John 6:16-24, Ps 126, Pro 27:17-19