The judgment game

We spend so much time assessing one another, don't we?   We disapprove of how someone drives and haughtily survey their church-going schedule.  We measure them by how they vote and size them up by how they dress.  We gauge their worth by how they spend their money (or don't) and we judge their parenting by how their kids turn out.  We guess the condition of their heart from an appraisal of their appearance and we look down our noses at their inability to behave socially. Oh...the judgment game is such an ugly practice.  Not only does it reek of pride (which God hates) but it's just plain foolishness.  Romans 2 explains why:  You may think you can condemn...people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself...Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to lead you to repentance (1-4, part, emphasis mine)? 

Do you see?  God's kindness toward you (and me) is not because you're better than someone else or because he favors you; God's kindness toward you is not because he thinks you're doing a good job or because he sees that you're trying really hard.  His kindness toward you and me is meant to continually lead us to the humility that repentance requires.  And, if you're honest, repentance is a constant necessity in your life.

So lets get our eyes off of others and onto the One who redeemed our filthy hearts (yours and mine).  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.  It's only then that you'll remain free from the tendency to compare, judge and criticize another precious soul for whom Christ died.