I have one of those jobs where I deal with people all day, every day. My job is to help people that need help. I knew that was the job when I applied, interviewed and accepted it. Often times I find myself judging these people that trust me to help them and solve their "problem". I don't not help them or lie to them or do anything that would harm them in anyway. But in my mind… whew, they are getting a verbal beat-down. I think I've always been this way as long as I can remember and it's a really hard habit (is this a habit?) to break.
In the book of Luke (Chapter 6, verse 37) Jesus tells us what we should do:
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
And to take it even a step further, just before this, in verse 27, Jesus tells us to actually LOVE our enemies and do good to those that hate us! So not only aren't I supposed to judge other people, but, even if they hate me (who knows, maybe I cut them off in traffic) I am supposed to love them and do good to them.
27 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you"…
But I don't love them. Do I? Loving someone means being nice and going out of your way to help them and doing everything they ask you to do. Right? Let's see.
LOVE: [luhv] noun,verb, loved, lov-ing:
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
OK, so it's open to interpretation, but I certainly can't have "profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person" whom is a stranger! Or can I? Jesus did. He carried His cross for me. He died for me, so that I may know eternal life in Heaven. I don't know about you, but that certainly sounds like "love" to me.
I have to strive to love my neighbor and not judge. It's not easy, but it is the only way to live my life the best way I can to follow in His footsteps. I have a long way to go and it's not like turning on or off a switch, old habits die hard. But I can do it, and so can you.
Final words for tonight:
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister, we are liars. For if we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another. – 1 John 4:19 – 21
Amen.
Shawn
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