Do Not Judge
This is easy to say, but for me difficult to follow through on. Even if I don't say anything out loud about the other person, my mind is often whirling thoughts I have no business having. The story I read this morning in, Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman's Soul by Adele Noetzelman really gave me perspective on this issue.
Adele was working in the Netherlands as a missionary in a rural area. She and her team were meeting a team from inner city Amsterdam that evening to worship together and share ministry experiences. Here's an excerpt from the story as the group walked through the door dressed in all black leather, studs and chains hanging from various body parts, vivid colors of hair and tattoos decorating their arms and necks.
Noetzelman writes: These are Christians? I asked myself...These visitors from Amsterdam strayed far from my narrow guidelines and broke my rules (for Christians)...But no sooner had I judged these people than I reprimanded myself. Who was I to say what Christians should look like, how they should dress, what type of jewelry they should wear or where they should wear it? I definitely had not been assigned by God to act as judge of personal appearances--I'd given myself that job.
Suddenly my eyes were opened and I began to look at our Amsterdam visitors from a new perspective...I sensed true sincerity from the hearts of these people. Their Bibles were more well-worn and dog-eared than some of ours...They brought hope to the hopeless by taking Jesus into the murky alleys of the city. They went to places I would never willingly go. And they did it with joy, peace and confidence.
Adele was working in the Netherlands as a missionary in a rural area. She and her team were meeting a team from inner city Amsterdam that evening to worship together and share ministry experiences. Here's an excerpt from the story as the group walked through the door dressed in all black leather, studs and chains hanging from various body parts, vivid colors of hair and tattoos decorating their arms and necks.
Noetzelman writes: These are Christians? I asked myself...These visitors from Amsterdam strayed far from my narrow guidelines and broke my rules (for Christians)...But no sooner had I judged these people than I reprimanded myself. Who was I to say what Christians should look like, how they should dress, what type of jewelry they should wear or where they should wear it? I definitely had not been assigned by God to act as judge of personal appearances--I'd given myself that job.
Suddenly my eyes were opened and I began to look at our Amsterdam visitors from a new perspective...I sensed true sincerity from the hearts of these people. Their Bibles were more well-worn and dog-eared than some of ours...They brought hope to the hopeless by taking Jesus into the murky alleys of the city. They went to places I would never willingly go. And they did it with joy, peace and confidence.
We are all different, for God's purposes, to do God's work where He places us. It's not our place to judge the Master's creations.
Matthew 7:1-2 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.
So true
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