Friday, April 30, 2010

Do not judge?

We have always been told to never judge people. However, we never take the time to understand what the word
judging actually means. According to our good friend Webster, judging means to formulate an opinion about. If that is what judging means, people judge all the time. It's almost unavoidable to judge someone.

In the book I follow and read, it says "Do not judge, or you will be judged." The important concept in this passage is to realize it is not just saying to not judge. Rather, it is saying that unless you want to be judged the same way you judge others, do not judge. An important question to also ask is this: Who is doing the judging here after you judge someone? In the end, we all will be judged by YHWH for the things we have done. That in mind, I think the individual doing the judging is the one that we have judged. So basically, if you don't want to be judged the same way, don't judge anyone else by that standard.

Now their are a few stipulations I would like to add. The next part of the passage it talks about do not talk about the speck in your friend's eye when you have a plank in yours. It says to first remove the plank in your eye before you remove the speck in your friend's. What this is saying to me is that before you go and make a judgement about someone else's faults, you need to make sure that you're doing it for the right reasons, which are out of genuine humility, love and concern for the person. You also need to make sure that you have things set right in your own life or they will come up in the conversation. It may even be that if you struggle with the same thing, the last thing you should do is judge someone for the very same transgression that you commit. Instead, maybe confront the person about the transgression and tell them you struggle with the same thing so that you both can hold each other accountable.

Also, judging is something that should happen within the body of believers. This is called church discipline and is something that is rarely used today. You are to point out a brother's/sister's faults if they are slipping so as to correct them and put them back on the path to where they are more genuinely following Him. This does not mean that you should judge those that do not follow. After all, how can you hold them accountable to standards of the scriptures when they themselves don't even know or much less follow Yeshua?

Lastly, judging in this context, I believe, should only take place if you have a good, trusting, and loving relationship with that person. If I was approached by a person in my church about correcting something about myself and I did not have any kind of personal and deep friendship with that person, I would feel a little insulted. However, if I really knew the person and that they cared about me and that I trusted them, it would motivate me to try to change that part of my life.

What people are really saying when they say do not judge is that you should not condemn. This means that you do not know a person's heart so you have no right to determine that person's salvation or not. In that, people are right, because only condemnation can come from YHWH and we are not YHWH. So when someone tells me to not judge, I'm typically going to ask them what they mean by judge.

Judging is not forbidden, but condemning is...

Lyrics of the Week

Like sex when you're too young
Like youth when you've got none
Like home when you're too drunk
Like getting every you wanted with a line of bad credit
It's never quite worth what you give up to get it

Like style made by slaves
Like bribes to throw the race
Like women who know their place
Like an indian casino or a tank of unleaded
It's never quite worth what you give up to get it

Stand back
You love it now but it's too much

Like fame for what you're not
Like joy that you bought
Like pleasure that never hits the spot
Like security for liberty, you gotta admit it

It's never quite worth what you give up to get it

Thursday, April 29, 2010

How do you build a friendship after the trust is gone? How do you build back up trust? I find in life that anything else can be gained back pretty easy, but in the mountains of friendship, building up trust after you've lost it is life's Mt. Everest. It is the toughest thing to overcome after one has done something to lose it.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Is there a difference between making a judgement and making an observation? Sometimes I wonder and chew on this question. I don't consider myself a judgemental person at all. However, if a person calls themselves a follower, I do expect for them to live the life that He calls for us to live and I hold them to that standard. The problem is that I forget that often times, I do that without people granting me that permission and that's where I screw up.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Someone said once that we need to love others. The problem with that is that it just leaves me with more questions. What does it mean to love others? How do we love others? It all seems so terribly complicated and subjective. Where does truth come into the equation? When is it a good time to speak truth to someone? I guess this is where wisdom comes in... a wisdom which I'm nowhere near arriving to yet in my life.

The one I follow knew the perfect time to speak love and be love, but he also knew the perfect time to speak the truth as well. He wasn't always supportive of decisions he knew those who were watching his every move. The older that I get, the more I admire him and how he did things the way he did. I just do not comprehend how he does it.

Monday, April 26, 2010

It's sad when situations in life don't turn out the way that you'd hoped for them to. Sometimes I just wish I could get people to see things the way I do. It would be so much easier for all of us if they could. Sadly and yet beautifully though, every person thinks differently than the next person. I guess that's what makes it amazing when people come together and can agree on things or disagree on things and still be united. It's a beautiful thing actually...

Saturday, April 24, 2010

People feel guilty after they hurt someone and their feelings. I sometimes want to tell them they shouldn't feel bad for doing it if it was the right thing. However, I do think people should feel bad when they hurt someone. Whether it's the betrayal of a friend by another or the ending of a love relationship, people should remember that feeling in the moment.

It should never feel good hurting another human being. So to that I say...You should feel bad for hurting someone, but if it was the right thing in the end, it's the right thing to do.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

They say I dodged a bullet
I say we probably both did
She would have gotten someone who would have told her what she didn't want to hear
I would have gotten someone that would have never lovingly confronted anyone
She would have gotten someone that would have loved her unconditionally
I would have gotten someone who brought a love with expectations of what's fair

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I love the area in which I live. It has some of the most beautiful natural beauty I've ever been able to experience on a daily basis. This is due to the fact that the people which live around the area that I live claim to be very "green" oriented. I guess I do have to be thankful that they care for God's creation. Sometimes I do wonder though how much they really care about the environment. This is the 18th richest county in the United States that boasts on being green and liberal. The reason I wonder this is that they boast of being green, but I do not see them giving up their houses to live in places that are more sustainable or giving up their gas-guzzling vehicles to cut back on air polution and volunteering to ride public transportation or even bring the BART to this side of the bay.

The truth is they care about the environment to the point where it minimally affects their own lives. When it really starts affecting them in the way that it takes away from the possessions they "need," then they are not so "green" anymore.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Is loving someone after a dating relationship even possible?
How do you love someone as God requires after a dating relationship is over?
What does love look like within this context?