I begin this episode with new material. A poem (that was initially written as a song but music was never put to it) entitled, "The Old Red Sea Was Parted." Next you'll hear "Lily of the Valley" then, from A Course in Christianity, a very important teaching that reminds us of Jesus's command entitled, "Don't Judge Others."
Don't Judge Others
This is an important message today and it dovetails with the previous chapter. This rotting world is peppered with judgments, piled on top of judgments. There seems to be no end to them.
Is it possible for us to balance the scales and divvy out completely appropriate judgment on people? I don't think so. We try but it is an impossible task. I guess we should leave it to God.
The Bible says, beginning at Matthew 7:1, that we are not to judge because we will be judged. I will take it a step further and say we cannot judge. Our attempts are foolish. We do not have an omniscient presence in this world and cannot know every aspect of what we see happening.
In this world we try to maximize "good" judgment and minimize "bad" judgment in ourselves. The more we are educated, we feel, the less likelihood are we to fall victim to poor judgment. But wait, this IS confusing. What is good judgment and bad judgment?
What is good judgment to one may be bad judgment to another. In addition, to further confuse things, a person could say that doing something at one time is "good" (killing our enemy in wartime, for instance) but doing it at another time is "bad" (killing our neighbor). Given this, it may not be possible to make any sense from a judgment.
I believe the Bible is infinitely clearer at what judgment is in the verse above. If we criticize or condemn someone we are "judging" them and will be judged likewise. This is a spiritual law. We will not necessarily be judged likewise by the ones we judged, but, in general, the scales will be balanced by the law that God put into place and we can know, with certainty, that someone will do unto us what we did unto someone else. This spiritual law is as valid as the law of gravity.
If we choose to follow the command given in Matthew 7:1, we will keep at arm's length any repercussions coming from God's law. If someone seriously wrongs us (or someone close to us), we would do better to pray for them than to fight them. Fighting them, arguing with them, holding a grudge against them all lead to additional weights on the scales God’s law is evaluating.
Can you imagine the immense task the law God has in place that keeps everything straight? Let's see, he did that, so he did this which caused Irving to smack Brock, who fell on Jeremy, so Jeremy kicked... You see? Let's get real here. We cannot accurately judge. But God has set a law in place that handles all breeches perfectly.
Now, with Christ's forgiveness, we unravel the threads of complexity, we stop the scourge of despair and guilt, we embrace the love of the Lord because God loves it when we follow His command to not judge. Attempting to judge adds another layer of greasy dirt onto the playing field but forgiveness clears the playing field of all the layers and makes it possible for a miracle to occur--the miracle of holiness, the miracle of a deep and genuine peace. And the weight that is lifted from our shoulders is such a relief.
"Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord." That's right. It's His, not ours. The law God set into place balances the scales. If someone treats us unkindly, we must release it to the Lord and pray for our hearts to be generous enough to forgive.
I'd love to hear from you! email: vic@zarley.net
