Judge Not

Judge not, lest ye be judged.  Matthew 7:1

On Little House on the Prairie, there was an episode where Alberts girlfriend became pregnant by a man who raped her.  Mrs. Oleson listened in on a phone conversation and mistakenly concluded that Albert was the father.  Overnight, the girls name was tarnished because of Mrs. Olesons inaccurate judgment.

We would expect that type of behavior from unsaved people.  Yet, it is all too common among the saints.

I remember a time when a young woman would bring a can of soda into the sanctuary every Sunday morning.  Immediately, people began to make comments.  Yet, if they had cared enough to find out why she was bringing soda into the sanctuary, they would have discovered that she was under orders from her obstetrician to do so because she had been showing signs of hypoglycemia.

Another precious Christian family had a child who was born with Downs Syndrome.  This was a very difficult time in their life.  They came to church, in hopes of finding sanctuary from their trials.  Instead, they were approached by people who told them they must have sin in their lives to have given birth to a baby with Downs.  What a sad testimony to the Church.

I have faced judgment on numerous occasions.  First, my husband and I were judged because we didn't have any children.  What these ignorant people failed to realize was that at that time, I was on medication that prevented me from becoming pregnant.

Thankfully, the Lord healed me and I gave birth to our dear Rachel just a few years after that.  Unfortunately, that did not stop the judgmental comments.

In homeschool circles, it is common to meet families who believe in the full quiver concept -- having as many children as God sees fit to give them.  Unfortunately, there are some who become holier-than-thou in their attitude.  A few have pretended to be my friend, yet make it clear that they feel I am out of Gods will because I only have one child.

If they had taken the time to talk with me, and learn more about me, they would have learned that I nearly died giving birth.  The only thing that saved that Rachel and I from death was an emergency c-section.  They would have discovered that my husband and I felt it was the Lords will for me to be a stay-at-home mom, which meant we lost our insurance.  We did not feel right about having more children and letting the government insurance pay for it because we didn't feel that was biblical.

I made a judgment about someone based on having known a relative of hers who stabbed me in the back.  Thankfully, I pushed past that judgment and reached out to her.  Today we are best friends.

As a new Christian, I was very judgmental of those who were divorced.  Years later, when a lady in our church was facing a divorce, I reached out to her.  What an awesome privilege it has been to see her develop such an elegant grace and a heart of wisdom through her trials.  Had I held on to my earlier judgments of divorced people, I would have missed out on a very special friendship.

I remember another time when a lady started attending our church.  She had invisible walls around her, making her appear very unfriendly.  I decided not to be intimidated by her behavior, and kept reaching out to befriend her.  As the Lord tore down those walls, I found a lady who had a sense of humor, much like mine.  I remember several times when we would laugh until we cried.

What blessings might you be missing because you have incorrectly judged someone?

2008, Stacy R. Miller