Something I Struggle With

One aspect of my character that I struggle with is my tendency to judge people too quickly. Before I became a Christian, I was not troubled by this and in fact took pride in what I thought was my ability to judge others' character well. Sometimes, even before I knew a person I would form an opinion of that person and would not hesistate to even share what I thought of him or her.

But since accepting Christ, God has been slowly and surely prodding me to change. By the grace of God I think I have become less judgemental and more accepting of people over the long years, but every now and then I am reminded by God again that I have a long way to go before I can develop anything even close to the loving, compassionate, embracing grace of Christ. Just recently, I was reminded that I had been too quick to label a brother in Christ without taking time to understand his needs. And today, the Bible reading during my quiet time reminded me yet again that the voice of judgement in me is something I must quell.

So I have been wondering - how do I use this aspect of my character for God's glory? I don't really have an answer yet.

Because I think the reverse side of this quickness to find fault is an ability to analyse the possible pitfalls in situations. At work, this critical voice has served me many times in making me think of possible things that could go wrong and to plan for alternatives. And when I look at my MBTI analysis, there is no surprise for me at all that I am an ISTJ - the J of course standing for 'Judging' :) If this is who I am, then of course God who made me knows this about me. He has made me in this unique image and I believe that if I would only let Him, he would fashion me to use me for His Glory. When I say with my lips that God is the Potter and I am the Clay, do I believe it with my heart? Am I willing to let Him fashion me according to His will?

Jesus said "Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." (Matt 7:16 - 18). I am a good tree only if I bear good fruit. My walk must match my talk. I cannot say I am a Child of God when I don't treat people like He treats them - with compassion, love, grace.

And how does God treat those whom He is going to judge? This is what I read today:

"God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed weeds all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the weeds showed up, too. The farmhands came to the farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these weeds come from?' "He answered, 'Some enemy did this.' "The farmhands asked, 'Should we pull out the weeds?' "He said, 'No, if you pull out the weeds, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the weeds and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn."(Matthew 13:24-30)

The farmer's refusal to allow his farmhands to separate the wheat from the weeds while they are still growing is a warning - don't try to anticipate the final judgment of God by human judgement. Don't rush in eager to point out what you think is wrong in the people around you. In its present stage, the kingdom of God consists of the good and the bad. There are people who are doing the right thing and those who have failed. But it is not for ME to judge. Only God is the Perfect Judge. Only He knows what anyone is like, what makes them do what they do. God alone has the power and the right to judge. All I am called to do is to be humble, for God knows me and my weaknesses better than I know myself; patient, because God's time is not my time; forgiving, because God has so much to forgive me for; and loving, just because despite all my messed-up ways, I know, God loves me ever so much. And He loves that person I am mentally judging just as much.