For years I heard so many of my friends talk about American Idol and rave about how much they enjoyed watching this reality TV show. I had never watched the show until about three years ago and now I try to watch it, the X-Factor and the Voice. Needless to say, I have fallen in love with these shows.
Sometime back I heard the story of Susan Boyle, a very talented singer, who was discovered on Britain's Got Talent in 2009. Many of you may know her story, but if you do not, please take the time to go to Wikipedia and check her story out. It is a modern day parable of why we should not judge.
When Susan Boyle came out on the stage to perform she was asked several questions by the judges and as she answered them from her heart, the judges began to laugh, sneer and roll their eyes at her. Susan did not let that stop her from giving one of the greatest performances these judges had ever heard or had the privilege of judging. I so admire her for her courage after such harsh judgement. This is truly the reason we must not judge a book by it's cover.
Jesus told us not to judge a book by it's cover basically in the following verses:
Matthew 7:1
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Luke 6:37
Do not judge, and you will not be judged...
The word judge simply means to form an opinion or conclusion about. The truth is none of us have enough knowledge about others to give an opinion about them. Only God knows us from the time we are formed in our mother's wombs until the day we depart this earth. He is all knowing, we are not! However, many of us think so highly of ourselves that we put ourselves in the judgement seat and take a stab at judging others and then we wonder why others judge us at times. Believe me I have sat on the throne of judgement at times, myself.
There is a story in the bible that shows us how some men were judging a "book" by it's cover. Let's take a moment to read this story:
John 8:1-11
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say? They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin.
Jesus is so amazing to me! I know most of us as Christians would not have handled this situation as well as Jesus did. How do I know? I have been judged pretty harshly myself by many who profess to be very strong Christians. It is very painful and discouraging to say the least. I don't want to hurt others and discourage them, do you?
Now may be a good time to do some soul searching and ask Jesus to show you if you have ever judged someone causing pain and discouragement in their lives. I can assure you that Jesus will not judge you if you realize that you have hurt someone by judging them. Listen to what Jesus says about himself and judging:
John 8:15
You judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no one.
Jesus could have used human standards to judge the woman caught in adultery and the teachers of the law and Pharisees, but he chose not to pass judgement. Instead he bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. Basically what this says to me, is that he humbled himself and thought before he spoke. His words of wisdom shined brightly when he stood up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." One by one the accusers (judges) went away and left only Jesus and the woman there alone.
Don't miss something very important here. Jesus not only bent down (humbled himself) before speaking about the woman but he also bent down (humbled himself) as the teachers of the law and the Pharisees felt the conviction of sin in their own lives and walked away. Jesus could have easily stood there looking them each in the eyes and sneered at them with pride and arrogance, but he did not!
How awesome it is to have such a wonderful Lord and Savior. He clearly understands everything about each of us but choses to love us with kind, tender words of truth instead of judgement. His purpose is to save us not judge us.
John 3:17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
The reason we cannot judge is because that is not our purpose either. Our purpose is to love! Love God, love ourselves and love others. How are you doing in your love walk? Are you fulfilling the two greatest commandments or are you breaking his Word by judging others?
Matthew 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Jesus had a way of silencing those who wanted to condemn and judge others. I just love that about him. I know as humbling as it may be, I want him to silence me when I take a seat on the throne and start judging others. Why? Because if I don't allow him to silence me, someone else's judgement of me will certainly do the job! I would rather have Jesus humbling me than someone else judging me. How about you?
After watching the You Tube video of Susan Boyle singing, I was able to watch three judges and an audience of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have their hearts humbled. She certainly silenced their laughing, sneering, rolling of the eyes and unkind words. The most amazing thing about Susan is that she is still a very humble person and many are now her fans.
Needless to say, Susan Boyle got the privilege of hearing the audience praise her with clapping hands, whistles, yells and a standing ovation. She also got to hear each judge say, "It's a yes"!
When Jesus went to the cross, he looked at each of us and said loud and clear, "It's a yes"! Because of that resounding yes from Jesus, we can hold our heads up high and be a success. We may not be perfect but because of Jesus we are saved and forgiven if we are Christians.
Susan Boyle is not a perfect performer or singer but she continues to be a success. I hope you will read about her and watch her performances if you are not familiar with her story. She is such an inspiration and certainly a modern day parable of how judging a book by it's cover is so wrong and hurtful. Make sure that you are not sitting on the throne judging others. Make sure you are loving others no matter what they have done or how they look or act. Your reward will be love poured back out to you not judgement!
Dear Jesus,
Thank you so much that you did not come into this world to condemn and judge but to save us! We are so unworthy but so very grateful. Your love is amazing. Please pour out your love anew into our hearts by your Spirit so that we might fulfill our purpose in loving you, ourselves and others. Show us if we are judging anyone, whether it be ourselves, a close family member, another Christian or simply a stranger, or non-christian. Strengthen us to love and when or if we think we have the right to judge others remind us that we are not ALL KNOWING and will never have enough knowledge to sit in judgement over anyone. Help us to walk in our own shoes and not try to walk in others. Help us to realize that we have no idea why they are the way they are and why they do the things they do. Even if we do have some knowledge of someone help us to realize that we are told clearly in scripture that we are not to judge or condemn others but instead to love as you have loved, which is unconditionally. Thank you for the cross and saying "It's a yes" to us when you clearly could have said no! Thank you that because of that yes we can succeed and be the loving Christians that we need to be to show others who you truly are, a loving, forgiving, kind and humble Savior. In your name Jesus we pray, Amen.
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