Do Not Judge

Do Not Judge

“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”
James 4:12

This afternoon as I was running an errand, a lady in a car in front of me cut me off in traffic, and nearly caused me to run off the road. My first reaction was to become upset and blame her for her irrational behavior, but the more I thought about what had just happened, was that God would not have been pleased by my immediate response. This may have been a tired mother, who had just finished a long day at work. She may have been rushing home to cook dinner, help her children with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. I did not know the circumstances that were going on in her life, and I should not be judging her in any way. So many times we become upset when people do things that annoy us, and we rush to judgment without knowing their circumstances, and what is going on in their lives. We need to keep reminding ourselves of God’s greatest commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 It is not enough to share God’s love with only those we hold dear, but we must open our hearts to all people. We must be slow to judge and quick to forgive. We must show patience, empathy and love. Today I would encourage each of you that when things happen that upset you to not rush to judgment, but be patient, forgiving and compassionate and think about what God would do in your situation.