Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37
These three sentences, although small, mean a lot.
The first sentences talks about judging others. Judging others is something so common, and so easy to do, we sometimes don't realize how this damages our faith. For some reason it is so easy to pick apart other's flaws, but incredibly hard to recognize our own. Why do you think that is? Jesus spent a lot of his time around people who were judged and hated by society, but he looked past what others saw, with non judging eyes, and became their friend. Think about how you can stop judging less and become more like Jesus.
The next sentence talks about condemning. To condemn seems pretty serious, and unrelatable, but it might be different than you think. When I think of this, I think of when Jesus said, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone." This is a reminder of how we shouldn't be too quick to judge or punish another, when we are imperfect ourselves.
The last sentence may be the most important one. Forgiveness can be difficult to grant to those who have wronged us for a number of reasons. One of which is because we are too quick to judge and condemn others. We often like people to pay for their mistakes, even though we would like people to be understanding when we make mistakes. If we tried to act like Jesus, and saw people the way He sees them, we might be able to forgive more easily. Holding grudges against people who have mistreated you isn't living the way God wants you to. God is always eager to forgive the sins of His children, and we should be willing to try to do the same.
Think about these three simple, but powerful sentences throughout your day today, and how you can apply them to your life.
-Theresa
