We do not Get to be Judge Juror or Executioner—R Fritz
These titles are not for followers of Jesus nor people who believe we have that right. Why do we want to judge somebody when we do not know them like God does? We all have flaws, there was only one that had no flaws that was Jesus, God in the flesh, a spiritual being that can see all. We cannot see that unless God lets us see us through the Spirit, yet some people think we can. The Holy Spirit has shown me that looking at people and their actions through our eyes might not look right as we see it. That thinking is wrong because we are all different, our lives are different or God might be telling us something else. Until we walk in somebody else’s shoes with their issues or what God has shown them, how can we compare? In my case, the Holy Spirit told me “No excuses” for not telling somebody to stop what they were doing because it was offending somebody else. The Holy Spirit did not say that to everybody because people are not where I am with my relationship with him, I understand that and am not expecting that or telling anybody “No excuses” because it does not pertain to them. I learned a long time ago that God does not necessarily speak to people as he does to me.
We need to make sure we are right with God before we point a finger at somebody else. Matthew 7:1-5 says, and this is Jesus’ speaking “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mete (use), it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote (speck) that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt you say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” It is clear what Jesus is saying about judging somebody, how we judge somebody is exactly how we will be judged, but before we judge look at ourselves and the beam in our eye as the other person has only a speck in his eye, clean out the beam so we can see the other person completely and what they see.
When we talk about other people, our words become the judge. Words are powerful for or against somebody, either death or life. Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” We must be careful when we speak to or about other people because there is power in our words, truth or lie changes people or confuses people. Words give an impression to people we meet; our first impression tells people whether they like us by what we say. We are trusted by our words and actions. We might not agree with somebody, but we agree to disagree and move on. We need to hear somebody else’s viewpoint. The next thing we do is pray for that person we disagreed with so God can show them the truth or us. For those that have not been chosen by Jesus, it gets harder for them to see what we see but for these people, we must pray for more for God to change them because they will not listen to us.
God gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason. We need to remember why God did that because we are supposed to listen to people first. Our next move was to pray about what was said instead of thinking our opinion was important. Our opinion is our thoughts mixed with some truth depending on what we know. What is an opinion worth? God does not believe in opinions, just his truth. God’s truth is one hundred percent truth. Sometimes we think we need to say something, but again we are not asking God. Proverbs 18:2 says, “A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover (express) itself.” Our hearts or our feelings want to speak, we want to express ourselves which God calls us fools. Years ago, somebody I knew asked me for an opinion on a subject I did not know well. I told this person that I did not want to give an opinion, but this person wanted my opinion. How much was my opinion worth to this person? I am going to say very little; it was to find out if I agreed with this person’s thoughts or opinion.
How do we judge somebody and their actions? It is to show them the unconditional love we all deserve but do not always get. There are consequences for actions that people have done. Sometimes before we say something to somebody, they know they made a mistake and know the consequences. Instead of giving advice automatically, look at their situation and we should put ourselves in their shoes. We certainly do not get to tell people they are going to hell for what they have done. God is the judge of all humans and by giving our life to him, obeying the Holy Spirit, and living a life through the Holy Spirit we must look forward to having eternal life. Luke 6:37-38 says “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete (use) withal it shall be measured to you again.” There was only one who lived a sinless life. What we give will be given back over and over because if we do not judge we will not be judged, if we do not condemn others we will not be condemned and if we forgive, we will be forgiven. This is who we are and who we should be. Just because we are living the life God wants us to do does not give us a right to look down on the rest of the world. If that is what we think we cannot be listening to the Holy Spirit because God loves all people. We can disagree on how we live our lives, but God will be the judge, and God through the Holy Spirit speaks what each of us is to do so we need to ask the Holy Spirit what other people are doing is from him. If we are asking about other people should make us think about ourselves asking if we are right first.
Nobody is perfect so let us look spiritually and ask God when we see things that do not look right. Be ready for God’s answer because it could be about us. We need to love people where they are and pray for God to show us how to help people. God Bless.
