“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others.The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” Matt. 7:1-2
Don’t judge me.
We have been in a month process of turning a farm house into an office building. This “we” consists of so many people I could not begin to list them all. One of the processes has been the cleaning of the kitchen. Each week someone takes a turn scrubbing, spraying and scraping away the grime from the oven and cabinets. Each week, more progress is made. If you look at the kitchen right now it would be easy to see all the grime still caked in cracks and crevices, all the stains on the floors, all the paint that is still chipped. But, what you won’t see is the progress.
Through this process we have completely changed the colors and textures of the inside from the ceilings to the floor, we have removed stuff and scrubbed, we have painted and laid floors. If you walk into the farm house right now you could point out fifty things that still have yet to be done. But, you won’t see the late nights and hard work that has gone into getting it to where it is today. You only see a snapshot.
This is the same with people around us. We see a snapshot of who they are in this moment. We see ways their behaviors are imperfect, the rough edges still in need of filing. But, what you don’t see is their past. {Tweet That!}
You don’t see where they have come from and ways that they are still healing. We may look at someone and judge them for being too something or not enough of something else. But, do we really see them. Unless we get to know someone we aren’t aware of who they are becoming through their own personal growth process.
I don’t want to be judged on a lapse of judgement when my 13 year old self comes to the surface. I don’t want to be judged on what people see of me now. In fact. Don’t judge me at all. Accept me as an imperfect person, and I will do the same for you. Remember, what we have today is a snapshot of our life. Don’t judge by the moment. Keep your eyes open to what the transformation (for you and others) holds in store.
Thanks Amber! What a beautiful picture of our lives, messy and imperfect even though we are daily trying to become what we’re called to be.