The Righteous Judge

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you..." Matthew 7:1-2. That is a command with a promise. Yet I feel that most of us do not take this command too seriously. At least I know that I didn't for a long time. But I have begun to understand the law at work here. And do you believe the bible to be true? I know that I do. Yet I have spent most of my life judging myself and others. And at the same time, I have equally felt judged by many others. "Why, God?," I've spent countless hours crying out in pain! "Well, hello, child...I laid it out clearly in my word. Who are you to judge? I alone am Judge!" 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 states, "I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." When God began bringing this point home to me (from Matthew 7), I learned the freeing beauty of forgiveness and not judging myself or others. Yet I still struggled with judging men's motives. However, recently God has brought me to the 1 Corinthians verse. I can't pretend to understand what someone else is thinking or feeling, regardless of their actions. That alone is up to God. But what I can do is forgive that person of their actions, love them, not judge them and ask God for wisdom on how to handle that relationship. The rest is then up to Him and then I find myself less under the knife of their judgement as I have had them under the knife of mine. And at the same time, it releases us from living under the weight of their judgement. You see, we can learn this lesson and stop judging. But that doesn't mean everyone else will stop doing it. The problem resides when we allow ourselves to live under the weight of their judgement. Who defines you or judges you? Them or Christ? Thank God that He alone is my worth and Judge! This is a life lesson that is beneficial to me in so many ways and I pray that you too begin to practice. May we all balance what the bible has called us too in each of our own, personal, relational circumstances....living love, relying on wisdom, clinging to truth, bowing in humility, walking in forgiveness, knowing whose we are, and letting God Judge. One less thing then that we have to worry about. Oh praise our Righteous Judge who robes us in His righteousness!