"Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matthew 7:1
"The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." Proverbs 12:26
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How are y'all doing? I pray that this blog finds y'all in good health and spirits. Things are going pretty good here. I am writing this blog from Moriarty, NM. I will be picking up freight here and then deliver in Abilene, KS.
I hear a lot about judging among Christians. Some say that Christians are to judge and some say that we should never judge. So, who is correct? Well, both are correct. For every verse that shows that we should judge, you can find a verse that says we are not to judge. I gave two verses that reflects this above and there are many many more.
The verses that say we should not judge is quite clear. This does cause many to think that God doesn't want us to judge and that is the end of the story. But God does warn us of people who do wrong. If you are to be careful when choosing your friend then you have to judge before you decide to be friends with someone. In the Bible it also says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” This means that we have to judge our friends. “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.” You mean I have to judge someone before I decide to marry them? “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers …” Again, have to judge in order to beware of evil workers.
So, how can you judge someone without judging them? It is in what you are judging. Many people fail to realize that we can judge a persons actions without judging the person. Just cause someone does something wrong doesn't make the person a bad person and that is how we should look at everyone. It is very important to judge actions. First of all, we can't know what is good and bad action without judging the actions. How do you know stealing is bad unless you judge it. Another reason to judge action is to help the innocent. If you walk down the street and see someone steeling a woman's purse, you can't help the woman unless you judge that the thief did something wrong and the woman is a victim. Another reason judging action is important is to help the person doing wrong. That is correct, we must judge bad actions in order to help the person doing wrong. I always say that if a person sees me sinning and doesn't say something to me, that person hates me. Sin doesn't just hurt others, it hurts the sinner. This is why God hates sin and why Christians should hate sin too. It doesn't only kill the soul, but it drags the sinner down both morally and spiritually too. It brings down self esteame and self respect. It also makes the sinners life a tough one. So, when you see a friend (either christian or non-christian) sinning, you should see if there is something you can do to help them change their life. Another reason you should judge action is to avoid people while they are sinning. If you hanging out with some friends and you see them break out some drugs, you must judge that what they are going to do is wrong and excuse yourself. This doesn't mean that you avoid them from now on. It means that while they are committing the sin, you stay away from them. Sin currupts good people. It is very enticing to sin. We all want to fit in and look cool. It is human nature and your flesh will cave when you are surrounded by sinners. But, in order to do this ... you must judge the actions.
Now, we are never to judge the person. What this means is that when you see a person sinning, you should never look at the person as a bad or evil person. Remember, you also sin. When you sin, does that mean you are a bad or evil person? No, it means you are human and your flesh is weak. What we are to do is love the sinner and pray for them. Just like you want others to do for you when you sin. Now, by loving them doesn't mean to condone or excuse the sin. Remember, sin destroys people and this is why you hate sin. You can not love people and sin. But, at the same time you don't hound them about the sin they have done. Of course, if the sin being commited is serious and harms others then you have to stop it (rape, abuse, steeling, ect). And that does bring up another thing. It is funny when people say "You should not judge." Do you know that everyone judges actions. How about the men who flew the planes into the World Trade Center? Did you judge that action as being terrible and bad? I hope so. But, how about the men that did it? Do you judge them? You shouldn't. How about people who abuse children? Abuse women? Abuse animals? and the list goes on and on. All sinful actions and we should judge the actions. But are the people who do them bad people? We don't know what is inside the minds of these people and therefor we can't be a rightous judge when it comes to judging people. Therefor, we should leave the judging of people to God. But God did give us the ability to judge right actions from wrong actions.
Well, I must get to bed. I pray that this blog has been helpful to you. Take care and God Bless.
Love,
The Oklahoma Tomcat
www.facebook.com/oktomcat
theoklahomatomcat.blogspot.com/
Ref: Proverbs 12:26, Proverbs 27:17, 2 Corinthians 6:14, Philippians 3:2, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, Romans 16:17, 1 Corinthians 15:33, Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37
"The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." Proverbs 12:26
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How are y'all doing? I pray that this blog finds y'all in good health and spirits. Things are going pretty good here. I am writing this blog from Moriarty, NM. I will be picking up freight here and then deliver in Abilene, KS.
I hear a lot about judging among Christians. Some say that Christians are to judge and some say that we should never judge. So, who is correct? Well, both are correct. For every verse that shows that we should judge, you can find a verse that says we are not to judge. I gave two verses that reflects this above and there are many many more.
The verses that say we should not judge is quite clear. This does cause many to think that God doesn't want us to judge and that is the end of the story. But God does warn us of people who do wrong. If you are to be careful when choosing your friend then you have to judge before you decide to be friends with someone. In the Bible it also says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” This means that we have to judge our friends. “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.” You mean I have to judge someone before I decide to marry them? “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers …” Again, have to judge in order to beware of evil workers.
So, how can you judge someone without judging them? It is in what you are judging. Many people fail to realize that we can judge a persons actions without judging the person. Just cause someone does something wrong doesn't make the person a bad person and that is how we should look at everyone. It is very important to judge actions. First of all, we can't know what is good and bad action without judging the actions. How do you know stealing is bad unless you judge it. Another reason to judge action is to help the innocent. If you walk down the street and see someone steeling a woman's purse, you can't help the woman unless you judge that the thief did something wrong and the woman is a victim. Another reason judging action is important is to help the person doing wrong. That is correct, we must judge bad actions in order to help the person doing wrong. I always say that if a person sees me sinning and doesn't say something to me, that person hates me. Sin doesn't just hurt others, it hurts the sinner. This is why God hates sin and why Christians should hate sin too. It doesn't only kill the soul, but it drags the sinner down both morally and spiritually too. It brings down self esteame and self respect. It also makes the sinners life a tough one. So, when you see a friend (either christian or non-christian) sinning, you should see if there is something you can do to help them change their life. Another reason you should judge action is to avoid people while they are sinning. If you hanging out with some friends and you see them break out some drugs, you must judge that what they are going to do is wrong and excuse yourself. This doesn't mean that you avoid them from now on. It means that while they are committing the sin, you stay away from them. Sin currupts good people. It is very enticing to sin. We all want to fit in and look cool. It is human nature and your flesh will cave when you are surrounded by sinners. But, in order to do this ... you must judge the actions.
Now, we are never to judge the person. What this means is that when you see a person sinning, you should never look at the person as a bad or evil person. Remember, you also sin. When you sin, does that mean you are a bad or evil person? No, it means you are human and your flesh is weak. What we are to do is love the sinner and pray for them. Just like you want others to do for you when you sin. Now, by loving them doesn't mean to condone or excuse the sin. Remember, sin destroys people and this is why you hate sin. You can not love people and sin. But, at the same time you don't hound them about the sin they have done. Of course, if the sin being commited is serious and harms others then you have to stop it (rape, abuse, steeling, ect). And that does bring up another thing. It is funny when people say "You should not judge." Do you know that everyone judges actions. How about the men who flew the planes into the World Trade Center? Did you judge that action as being terrible and bad? I hope so. But, how about the men that did it? Do you judge them? You shouldn't. How about people who abuse children? Abuse women? Abuse animals? and the list goes on and on. All sinful actions and we should judge the actions. But are the people who do them bad people? We don't know what is inside the minds of these people and therefor we can't be a rightous judge when it comes to judging people. Therefor, we should leave the judging of people to God. But God did give us the ability to judge right actions from wrong actions.
Well, I must get to bed. I pray that this blog has been helpful to you. Take care and God Bless.
Love,
The Oklahoma Tomcat
www.facebook.com/oktomcat
theoklahomatomcat.blogspot.com/
Ref: Proverbs 12:26, Proverbs 27:17, 2 Corinthians 6:14, Philippians 3:2, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, Romans 16:17, 1 Corinthians 15:33, Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37
