Saturday's cartoon

I love this cartoon on a Saturday morning.  It's so typical of each of us.  We judge the world around us through our own value system and are more than willing to help others see what they are doing wrong.  

A passage that has captivated me is Luke 6:27-38.  They are the words of Jesus and are profound on this topic.  Here is just a portion of that amazing and very convicting passage,

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

The hardest words of this passage are the first three.  We are skilled and well voiced in what others are doing wrong.  We would help them if they would only listen, but Jesus tells us that instead of being the judge with a guilty verdict ready to give we are to be forgivers, givers, letting God take care of the other person.  

Paul takes this idea even further in Romans 14 when he says, "who are you to judge the servant of another?"  The message of scripture is clear....don't judge!  Even if you're right it doesn't help.  Instead, love, forgive, give, help and come alongside the one you first criticized.  You will find there is much more to their story than you can see on the surface.