11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
- How is speaking evil of a person related to judging them?
- Why would your judging a brother be considered judging the law of God?
- How often do you consider some one evil or wrong based solely on your standards?
- How might you point out a sin to a brother/sister without being judgmental?
- How does this passage motivate you to be more careful in your judgments of others?
I find that I tend to judge people by my likes and dislikes or by attaching the sinful state to a person. Sometimes it is semantics, but too often it is my attitude. I see someone with tatoos, studs, rings, and multicolored hair and if I'm not careful, I'll mentally discard them like I'm rumaging through the discount DVD bin at Wal-Mart. They are not worthy of my attention. Judging can be placing a value on someone or something. God has placed a value on everyone and that value is VERY HIGH. When I decide that the tatooed kid is not worthy to hear the gospel of Christ, I am judging him and also judging the value God has put on him. Ouch! Gotta work on this for sure.
2 comments:
If I ctiticize or judge a brother or sister, Paul is saying that I "speak against the law and judge it." I wonder if Paul is talking about the law mentioned in Lev. 19:18, "... love your neighbor as yourself?" This particular law is just as valid today as it was in the days of Moses. I need to remember, if I follow Christ, I will love my neighbor as myself and will not judge them by my lowly standards. I need to leave now because I must make a few important phone calls and ask for forgiveness.
For such a long time, I had not known why judging others is such a bad thing. I think I judge people all the time by assuming what kind of personalities they have and what they are like, based on my experiences with people but mostly based on race, color, and gender.
My summer roommate has told me that it is a sin to categorize people which I do so often without realizing it is a sin. I think I create fear of people at times because I judge them based on my standards and sometimes feel superior over others again based on my judgments.
Judging people could be such a scary thing. When I find something unpleasant about my mom, I would tell myself "I will never become like mom" but then sooner but not later, I find myself doing the same thing my mom does. I don't know whether why this happens could be explained biblically, but one thing for certain is JUDGING IS BAD!
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