Laying Down The Gavel

So often we hear people say, "Don't judge me."  We are offended when someone assumes to know all the facts of our lives, all the circumstances in which we live or what is going on in the core of our being. Who do they think they are - God?

We really don't like it when someone assumes that position, unless, of course it is ourselves.  We seem to think that we are somehow the exception, that we somehow see more clearly. We are particularly certain when it comes to self-judgment. Surely we are in the position to do that, right?  Wrong!

Let me try to make this point abundantly clear - there is only one Judge. There is only One who knows all the particulars, all the circumstances and all the values. And that One is not you.  Listen to the Word: "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. …" (Rom 8:33-34). 

While we can and must, at times, judge the actions or "fruit," as Jesus puts it (cf. Matt 7:15-20), we are not equipped, called or authorized to judge the moral worth of anyone, not even self. 

And, by the way, it is worth pointing out that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). Maybe it's time for laying down the gavel and simply be a witness to what Christ has done. 

Jus' Sayn.