Quick Sip

Judgmental thoughts have been circling my head lately like flies on a hot summer’s day. As I drive down the street or walk through a store, I find them passing through my mind. “Look at that shirt!” “That’s car has had it!” “What’s going on with her clothes?” “Why is he on a riding cart?!” I HATE these thoughts. They come unbidden, and I try my best to shoo them away so they don’t find a place to rest.

In Matt. 7:1-2 Jesus says,

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Ouch! If this is true, what are people thinking about my kids and me? “What is up with her hair?!” “Why doesn’t she calm that child down?” “Why are those boys wearing dirty clothes?”

It occurred to me recently that when I am being so judgmental of others it has nothing to do with them and everything to do with where I am mentally. When I am less confident in who I am, then I somehow feel the need to be harder on others as well.

On the flip side, Jesus was fully confident in who He was and was free to love others with abandon because of it (Phil. 2:5-11).

I want to be like Jesus. I want to be so assured in my identity in God that judgmental thoughts leave me alone. I want to be free to love others because I don’t need theirs or anyone else’s validation to feel confident in myself.

I want verses like Psalms 139:14, Isaiah 43:4, and Romans 8:15-17 to sink deep into my soul until I believe them. Because until I, like Jesus, find my confidence in who God says I am, then those judgmental thoughts will keep circling, watching for a place to land.

Full Cup

• Whose testimony about Him does Jesus accept?
• Who does he seek glory from?