Judging is not loving

There is a division among mankind.  We are divided by a line of judgment.  What is it we judge?  Better yet would be to ask what is it we don’t judge?  Ethnicity, color, size, shape, ability, political affiliation, familial status, religion, beliefs, etc., etc., etc.  And the list extends too far for eye to see.  Generations of children are trained to continue the traditions of isolation and contentment, adding greater layers of brick to a dividing wall of great magnitude. 

Throughout history many have come along and lead a parade of followers who attempted to tear down those walls and yet they were destroyed by those clothed in masks of judgment.  One greatest among them all was Jesus….Son of Man, Son of God…God made mere man to show us how to live to our fullest potential.  What was His message?  Love! 

What type of love did this infamous Man-God teach us?  What example did He set before us through His own life?  Have His followers destroyed any walls with the mighty hammer of Love He passed on to us? 

Jesus taught us to Love our God and to Love our neighbor as ourselves.  Yet we say we Love God but then curse those made in His image.  We love those who make us feel good or meet our approval.  We are creatures of conditional love and magnificent individual judge and juries.  We condemn without forethought and critique what we do not understand and fear.  This is just “our way”.  “Our sins are not as bad as their sins!”  Yet, where is Jesus in all of this?  In Christianity we use God’s Word like a hammer to crush “sin” out of people, yet in reality we are crushing them with blows of judgment and condemnation.  Isn’t there “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?” Aren’t we only to judge in the same manner we ourselves wish to be judged?  Let’s rephrase this:  Aren’t we to love in the same manner we ourselves wish to be loved and HAVE been loved?   

Sadly we as followers of “The Way” have lost our way.  We have segregated ourselves in walled towers all the while peering out of little windows and throwing rocks at all who pass by.  If Jesus were to return today would He find us about our Father’s business, or look at our thick walled towers and wonder who lives within such prison walls? 

What is our Father’s business we are to be about?  Well, if we look closely at Jesus’ life we can see it right in front of us.  We’re to be about loving others.  He did not discriminate whom He loved.  He loved the whole world – even those who persecuted Him and killed Him.  He told us to do the same…to love our enemies…to do good to those who persecute us….to show compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience, meekness, grace and mercy towards all.  Aren’t all men made in God’s image?  If we are to love God then aren’t we to love men as well?  Not just those who are kind to us, but even those who aren’t so kind?  Then we can transform the world as Jesus intended us to do.  If the world is to hate us for being like Jesus then that’s on them.  But, if they hate us for being hypocrites than that’s on us. 

Lord, please open our eyes to see our hearts and our behaviors.  Forgive us for being so blind to our judgmental attitudes towards those You have fashioned in Your image.  Soften our hearts with Your love so that we can share that love with others, especially those who are not so easy to love.  Let us remember that we were once just as unlovely and yet You shared Your love with us.  Help us to remember our mission and to step out of our comfort zones…stepping out of those towers of isolation and into the fields of humanity.  May we be a people about our Father’s business…a people of Light, Love and Truth towards all we come in contact with on a daily basis.  Make us courageous lovers just as You were courageous to love us when we were not willing to love You in return.