JUDGING VS. LOVING

Judging. Everyones does it. I catch myself doing it all the time. Why do I catch myself looking to other people as if I'm "better" than them? As if I'm never indulged in the sins that they are indulged in now. I look at someone, listen to someone and I already have a narrow-minded image of them in my mind. These are my own interpretations of who they are without even really getting to know them. It seriously kills me to see myself doing that.

I say that I love Christ and that Christ loves me. I say that I love others because we should love others as Christ loves us. But I can't judge and love at the same time. God knows the depths of my heart. He knows what I'm thinking, he knows what's going on through my mind. So, what does it really mean to love others?

So, I was reading this book "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper the other week and he quotes, "Love has to do with showing a dying soul the life-giving beauty of the glory of God, especially his grace." MAN OH MAN. If I claim to be a "Christian" and I claim to be "saved" and I claim to "love" others, how the heck am I showing all of this? Does my life reflect this? Does "judging others" reflect this? No and no. God's GRACE and LOVE covers ALL. ALL. ALL. ALL. ALL HIS CHILDREN. I don't know WHY this slips my mind but we are ALL God's children. Not just me, my next door neighbor, or the person I see walking down the street but everyone on this temporary place we call home are ALL God's children. That's pretty crazy. Whether or not, we choose to believe in Him or not, He still considers us his very OWN CHILDREN. Children to an everlasting Father, how much more awesome can it get? So, if we claim to love each other and we all claim to be brothers and sisters in Christ...what do we have to do next? Share the gospel! As the quote says show a DYING soul the LIFE-GIVING beauty of what Christ did for us. Crazy to think that simply SHARING THE GOSPEL can give someone the chance to gain ETERNITY in heaven. ETERNITY. FOREVER. and ever. and ever. ETERNITY in heaven over ETERNITY in hell. Can you imagine meeting your family member, friend, or stranger in heaven who you shared the gospel with and getting to experience the kingdom of God together? But can you also imagine a family member, friend, or stranger you had the opportunity to talk to in hell asking you, "Why didn't you share the gospel with me? Why didn't you share the gospel with me when you had the chance?" Such a scary thought.

Man, who am I to judge others? Seriously. I am nothing but a sinful, worthless, dirty, ugly human being. I am no better better than anyone else. I'm no better than a thief. I'm no better than a murderer. I am the lowest of the low. God is the ultimate judge. In the end, he judges who gets to enter His kingdom. Right? Right. And that's really all that matters.

Wow, this post was kind of all over the place =) One thought leads to another thought and in the end, it all points back to the gospel!