Judge Not

This morning I was convicted of holding other people up to my standards. It is so easy to judge people based on my perspective, my experiences, and my belief. It is so easy to expect people to react like I would react, but it is not right for me to do so.

Recently someone decided to stop speaking to me. She has her reasons, although they are not based on what really happened. I could judge her reaction based on how I would have handled it, but I choose not to. Not to sound like I have it all together, I have make this decision daily, and sometimes it is not an easy decision to make. It is so much easier to choose to react badly.

Another situation, one that doesn't involve me at all, recently happened and someone made a comment about how they would have reacted if they had experienced the same things as another person. It is easy to say, but it is so not true. We have no idea how we will react to situations that we have never faced. We can't look at our own lives and think we will know how we will react to situations we have never faced, possibly will never face.

But neither of these situations were what I was convicted of this morning. I realized that I had been holding another person's life up to my standards. I had to stop and think about what my life has been like, what my exposure to Christ has been, and what my relationship with Him means to my life. This person has not had a life like mine. This person has had infrequent exposure to the Truth and has been mislead more than not. My childhood wasn't easy, but even so it wasn't as difficult as this person's. I don't know how I would react to life if it was like this person's. So I was convicted of judging based on my life.

Ultimately, this conviction lead me to tears and prayers on a deeper level. On a level that looked beyond me and even beyond this person. The prayers were for this person to have a chance to be exposed to Truth and to develop a true relationship with Him.

Will I slip into the habit of judging? Judging based on my life and believes? Yes, I am sure that I will, but I hope that it will become easier not to.