The One and Only Lawgiver and Judge

Verses: James 4 : 11 - 12

My thoughts about the verses:

How many of us have made judgments on others behaviors?  If we were honest we all have to admit that we have done this in our life.  We have judged someone by the way that they are acting.  We think that their behavior does not live up to our standards.

It even goes beyond individuals judging others.  Churches have judged groups and determined that they are not acceptable for grace.  This applies to many different groups in society.  Certain churches have judged people that are divorced, those who are GLBTIQA, and those who act differently from the churches norm.  When this happens people are excluded from the love of God.

We have to realize as Christians that there is only one judge.  God is the giver of the law.  Therefore the only one that can judge us is God.  God will judge all on the same even scale. 

God wants us to love others.  God wants us to accept the gift of salvation that comes from accepting Jesus into our life.  We are to open our hearts up to the redeeming power of the Holy One.  When we accept that God is the one in charge our life changes.

We need to make sure that when we go out into the world that we do not judge others.  We need to allow people to be themselves.  Instead of judging people we need to evaluate our own lives.  We need to decide if what we are doing is God’s will.  If we do not believe we are doing things according to the desires of God we need to change what we have done.

The Church needs to accept people for who they are.  We need to make sure that we as the Church body do not alienate others.  We must open our doors to those that need Jesus in their life.  Instead of pushing people away from the grace of God we need to lead them to the love of God. 

The next time that we feel like we are judging others we need to determine why we are doing it.  We need to determine if we are judging others because of our insecurities.   We have to accept that when we judge others we are actually hurting others. 

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for loving us.  We praise you for the gift of redemption.  Help us not to judge others.  Help us realize that we need to look at our own actions and not that of others.  In the name of the Redeemer we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you judged others?  Have you pushed people away from God?  Do you need to be more loving with each other?  Are you willing to accept people just the way they are?