What A Man Says
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Posted: January 2, 2021
Author: Christopher Brock John 7:24, NIV “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” |
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Every day, my youngest son and I read a passage of scripture together. Over the past few weeks we have been reading through the story of Joseph. We read about what happened between Joseph and his brothers and how even though there were times in Joseph’s life where it may have sounded impossible, God still fulfilled every promise He had made to Joseph. There were many times as we were reading through the events that my son would ask a simply question, “Why would those people do that?” It is a simple question and one that would be easy to ask. In fact, I find myself asking that same question quite often when I see other people do things. However, the Bible tells us clearly that there is more to making judgements about the actions of others.
When we begin to make a judgement about something or someone, we first need to consider our motives. We are not to judge someone with the intention of either tearing them down or elevating our own position. When we judge someone to make them look or feel bad or make ourselves look or feel better, we are not judging with a proper heart and a proper motivation. The Bible tells us though that we are judge everything in righteousness. What does that mean to judge in righteousness? I believe that first it means that we do not judge based upon our own standards or our own feelings. We are to use the Bible, the Word of God, as the standard by which we make a judgement. Secondly, when we judge we are first to consider our own lives. We must take that same Biblical standard that we are about to apply to someone else and then compare ourselves against that standard. Third, we are to speak the truth in love. This means that when we reveal the truth about a situation to someone we must do with it the intention and heart of love. We are telling them this because we love them and want them to live in the truth.
Many people in the world do not like to be judged, and when you try to tell them the truth about a situation they immediately become angry and argumentative. This is because they do not desire to see the truth. They do not want to change and they actually want to continue in the behavior that they are engaged in. However, we have been called to speak the truth into the lies and bring the light into the darkness. So we cannot stop speaking the truth in love. Today, I want to encourage you to never give up in seeking the truth of God’s Word and then living that truth out. When you see situation and behaviors that are contrary to the truth of God’s Word, it is our responsibility to speak truth into the situation boldly, but with love.
