"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Joshua 24:15

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Worst Offenders

The sermon at our church this Sunday was all about judgment, based off of these verses...


If you judge other people, then you will find that you, too, are being judged. Indeed, you will be judged by the very standards to which you hold other people.

Why is it that you see the dust in your brother's or sister's eye, but you can't see what is in your own eye? Don't ignore the wooden plank in your eye, but criticize the speck of sawdust in your brother's eyelashes. That type of criticism and judgment is a sham! Remove the plank from your own eye, and then perhaps you will be able to see clearly how to help your brother flush out his sawdust.

Don't give precious things to dogs. Don't cast your pearls before swine. If you do, the pigs will trample the pearls with their little pigs' feet, and then they will turn back and attack you.


Matthew 7:1-6 (The Voice)


There is a lot to digest in there and a lot of points were made in the sermon, but I want to focus on one area.

And that one area is this: We MUST avoid a self-righteous attitude.

And as women, I think we are the WORST OFFENDERS.

Yes, I am making a general statement, but I am going to back it up with some honest confession here.

How many times have I watched a mom fail to discipline her child the way I would have and judged her for not handling the situation the "right" way?

How often have I heard another mom talk about her favorite soap opera and wonder how she could watch that trash?

And how many times have I judged another mom for giving their child pop at such a young age?

Does the Bible tell us ONE WAY to raise our children other than to train them up in the Lord?

Is the 11th commandment "Thou shalt not watch soap operas?"

Does the Bible teach us to not give our children sugary drinks until age 5?

No, no and no.

And I can guarantee, the minute I stood there judging another mom for something like this, one of my children was probably running off to get in trouble and I was missing it because I was focused on someone else.

LOG IN MY EYE.

I cannot get this quote from the sermon out of my mind...

"Every time we judge, we push God off the throne and assume His position, when in reality, there are NO VACANCIES in the Trinity!"

Yikes. Now there is a word picture for you. And if I really think about it, I don't actually want that kind of power. I feel much better letting God handle that.

Now, some people will take the verse "Do not judge" to the extreme and spew that line only any chance they get.

No, we are not to judge people based on "extra-Biblical standards," but if you see a fellow believer falling into sin, we are not to sit by and be idle.

Our pastor referred to it as "Biblical evaluation." And the difference between judgment and Biblical evaluation is all about the heart.

Do you see a sister in Christ struggling in the area of gossip? Is your desire to help her and build her up in Christ? Then approach her about it. Do you want to point out her sin to make you feel better about yourself? Go to the Lord and get the plank out of your own eye.

Like I said, this is a lot to chew on, but it is worth the time. I see more and more women that are withdrawn from other women because they don't feel like they are "good enough." It is almost always due to extra-Biblical standards that have been imposed upon them - either by themselves or by other women at some point in their life.

And those scars are hard to remove.

But not impossible. We serve a BIG God.

Women - let's provide empathy and support to one another. Share your failures and successes without jealousy or judgment. Pray for one another.

Know that it is a happier place to lean on one another and lift each other up than to push each other down - even if it is just in our own mind.

10 comments:

  1. Erin,

    What a POWERFUL and AMAZING post, sister!!!! I love it. :)

    I know we are ALL guilty of "judging" at one point or another...often times, MORE times than we'd care to admit. I, for one, have been trying so hard to work on this in my own life.

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the verses. Such a great reminder.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well said. I'm getting better at checking my inner dialogue, but it's still hard. Thanks for the reminder to let God handle it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well said Erin. I have to admit that when my kids were smaller, I was terrible about judging other moms and their parenting. It seemed like without fail though, every time I got critical about another kid's behavior my own child would start doing it the very next week.

    Now THAT is humbling. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amen. This is WHY I'm working on the "mile in her shoes project" we have to stop.. and it starts with ME. (each of us:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great job summing up a powerful message! It is definitely a lot to chew on, and there are a lot of ways I hope to apply that message to my everyday life, including some of the examples you mentioned in your own life.
    Thanks for being so candid and for opening your heart so that all of us can grow and benefit from it. This is truly a powerful issue amongst women, and most definitely something that stands in the way of healthy, encouraging, life-changing relationships.
    Imagine what a difference each one of us could make in our environment if we began to learn this lesson!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post Erin! I think every mom struggles with judging other mom's and thinking to themselves-- I would do "whatever" so differently. We just have to keep in mind that those who believe will be judged by the one true God at the judgment seat of Christ.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really like this. Too often I judge women based upon their mothering skills - when mine aren't exactly par some of the time.

    thank you

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree! It can be so easy to lapse into an attitude of self-righteousness...

    ReplyDelete
  9. wow, wow, WOW! we just got done with The Sermon On The Mount, and I very much remember this sermon also. Love the Throne comment! I have been so convicted in this area the past few years as my boys get older and have found myself saying/doing things that once would have received a "what kind of mother would" comment from these very lips. To the point that I have actually had to make a phone call to one of the boy's friend's mom and apologize. (She laughed btw, her three are a season ahead of mine and knew EXACTLY where I was coming from.)

    so glad I found your blog from "Our Front Door".

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting our home! I love reading your comments, so write away...