This morning I came out my front door and a car went zooming by. I held up my hands in anger: "Slow down!" I got into my car and began pulling out of the driveway. There was a car coming up the street so I waited. And waited. "Will you speed up, for crying out loud!" If I weren't so serious about my selfishness, I would have laughed. I guess everyone has to run at my speed.
That's the way we live our lives, and that's why we're so judgmental. We have a standard that varies for different situations, yet we still manage to judge others on these shifting gears. "You're too fast!" "You're too slow!" "Adjust to me!!!!"
I love how in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus removes the burden of judgment from us. It can be very tiring making these demands upon other people, especially if we have to base it on our own feelings of the moment. If we were totally honest with ourselves, we would admit that our current state of personal development is very nebulous. We're "wimps" - "works in major progress." How can we, understanding our own growth, try to mark others based on where we happen to stand at this moment? I've grown tremendously over the past twenty years, and I'm embarrassed to think that I judged others based on who I was back then. They weren't going at my speed of that time. But like my experience this morning, I somehow managed to be very serious about my selfishness.
Be careful when you place your judgment upon someone. If it's based on the absolute truth of the Word of God, then it can be helpful in bringing them back to a better place. This is a humble type of judgment that is constructive. However, if it is based on the shifting sands of your own feelings or the point you happen to be at in life, then it is one of the most destructive forces on earth.
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