I think sometimes it's good to take a step back from the people we know and love the most, the people with whom we spend the bulk of our time, and see them in a different light. It's so easy to take these relationships for granted and because we "know" these people so well, it is so easy to judge them. Subconsciously we think we've earned the "right" to judge them. In fact, a great deal of our interactions with these people are tainted by our assumptions about them--how they will react to what we're saying, how they'll catch the drift of what we're not saying, etc.
In reading this morning about caring for the poor and the broken in my community it occurred to me how much easier it is for me to "excuse" the brokenness of people "out there" in the community. I can say to myself, "I don't know that person's story. I don't know where they came from or what kinds of struggles they've faced in their lives." So in the end, that is a "tool" I suppose, to temporarily keep me from judgment, but is it truly a fix for my struggle with judgment?
Not really. What is the fix for my struggle with judgment? Love. "Love never fails." (1Corinthians 13:8 NIV) In 1 Corinthians Paul gives us a primer on love, all of the things love is and isn't, does and doesn't.
So honestly, what started out as a post about another "tool" for my struggle with judgment--taking a step back from those I'm closest to and looking at them as I would a stranger--became yet another reminder to me that God's love is always the answer. God is love. Love never fails. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but don't have love, I'm nothing.
29 December 2010
27 December 2010
Working Out the Bends
I think one of the "resistances" that keeps me from writing is that I wonder if people really care what I have to say. Do they really want to hear me?
And as I ponder that thought, I realize that its insecurity and insecurity is ultimately rooted in selfishness. And all selfishness is sin. I'm reading a book by Chris Seay called The Gospel According to Jesus. In one chapter he describes sin very simply. We often hear it defined as "missing the mark," which is accurate, but what mark? What's our target? Our target is relationship with God and people. Remember Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love your neighbor. (Matthew 22:37-40.) All sin is relational. It limits or breaks or destroys our relationships.
I'd have to say one of my biggest struggles with sin is with judgment. It is SO EASY to fall into judgment before we even realize it. Well, before I even realize it, I should say.
So I know that I'm judging people (and myself) by thinking no one will care what I have to say. Because if even one person gets something out of it, then that's all that matters. God gave me a desire to write. To share words. I. Love. Words. My Creator made me that way.
In the Fall, the internal mirror that was designed to reflect my Divine Creator to the world was bent at odd angles that cause me to reflect back in on myself, but Jesus redeemed me from that and as my mind is renewed and I work out my salvation (Phil. 2:12), those bent places begin to be straightened out and I'm able to better reflect my Savior to those around me.
(Thank you to Chris Seay and The Gospel According to Jesus for inspiring this post.)
And as I ponder that thought, I realize that its insecurity and insecurity is ultimately rooted in selfishness. And all selfishness is sin. I'm reading a book by Chris Seay called The Gospel According to Jesus. In one chapter he describes sin very simply. We often hear it defined as "missing the mark," which is accurate, but what mark? What's our target? Our target is relationship with God and people. Remember Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love your neighbor. (Matthew 22:37-40.) All sin is relational. It limits or breaks or destroys our relationships.
I'd have to say one of my biggest struggles with sin is with judgment. It is SO EASY to fall into judgment before we even realize it. Well, before I even realize it, I should say.
So I know that I'm judging people (and myself) by thinking no one will care what I have to say. Because if even one person gets something out of it, then that's all that matters. God gave me a desire to write. To share words. I. Love. Words. My Creator made me that way.
In the Fall, the internal mirror that was designed to reflect my Divine Creator to the world was bent at odd angles that cause me to reflect back in on myself, but Jesus redeemed me from that and as my mind is renewed and I work out my salvation (Phil. 2:12), those bent places begin to be straightened out and I'm able to better reflect my Savior to those around me.
(Thank you to Chris Seay and The Gospel According to Jesus for inspiring this post.)
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