Thursday, July 3, 2008

order in the court

so the summer program (mission adventures) has this thing every thursday called a panel. they ask base staff to come and answer, or attempt to answer, or shed light on, or share life experience with, questions that the students write down and ask on monday night, the day they arrive here. its girls with girls and guys with guys, and ive been participating in this thing, and i would like to share some thoughts ive been thinking and journaling about in my quiet time, that applied to the panel today.
its about judgment. or more specifically, judging.
we all judge others. whether we are fully aware of it or not, we do. "first impressions" is a fancy way of saying first judgment. when someone says or does something we don't or aren't, regardless of how aware of it we are, we judge them. little judgments. big judgments.
anyway, i asked God how He felt about it, and this is what i feel he said:

-when you judge someone, you strip them of the value i have placed on them, you render them valueless.
-when you judge someone, you are the opposite of me, you place yourself high above them...and thats breaking a commandment, because you are making a god out of yourself.
-never assume you know the full story, even if they don't, i do.
all i need from you is to love them, allow the spirit inside of you be love and truth, don't be anything else, i will take care of it. when it comes to people, your job is to love, let me guide the rest.

needless to say, there was some repenting going on. this is serious stuff. of course judging is bad, but i never knew how personal it was, and how far it keeps us from God when we do it. it is the opposite of his character.
making a god out of myself? its true. when i judge someone, im really promoting myself, saying that im better, im right, they are wrong, im placing more value on me then on them.
it never ceases to amaze me what is really going on with people, and if i would take just a moment and listen to them, to spend time getting to really know them, how much you learn and feel stupid about, because you assumed certain things that were of course untrue.

i hope that this isn't making anyone feel guilty, because thats not the point. im just into sharing my life and what it looks like everyday, and i hope you want to share your life with me, because sharing our lives is what its all about...after our king, of course.

1 comment:

Karisse said...

good word my friend. :)