No One is Perfect

"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, or course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own." Matthew 7:1-3 (MSG)

Before you open your mouth concerning the shortcomings and faults of other people take some time to look in the mirror. It is easy to point out everything wrong that someone else is doing, but how often do we self evaluate and see the errors we produce day after day. No one is perfect. Just because other people do not sin the same way you do does not permit your judgment and criticism to be valid. Most often, your judgment is a direct reflection of issues within yourself that you need to change.

My pastor, Pastor Sergio De La Mora of Cornerstone Church of San Diego, once commented about the problem with pointing the finger. He highlighted the fact that in judgment you may have one finger pointed at someone else but you should not ignore the three fingers pointing right back at you.

Growing into my early adult years, I did not realize it, but I was more judgmental than I would have liked to admit. I was growing in my Christian walk but found myself making judgements about how people should look or the way they should behave. In retrospect, perhaps my attention on what other people looked like or how they behaved showcased my insecurity with needing acceptance of my looks and behavior.

What do your judgements say about you? In reality, my judgement was based out of a bit of self-righteousness that I would later be forced to deal with. Who was I to speak about a person or circumstances that I knew nothing about? In the end all judgement belongs to God.

When we take on this role of judgement we limit God and his ability to use the "unusable" and love the "unlovable." I Samuel 16:7 states, "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

We should do ourselves a favor and  focus on ourselves, our decisions, and our walk with God. Before we "answer the call" to "help" other people, we need make sure our priorities and motivation are straight. We must understand God's order in our lives. You never know, you may find yourself in the same position of the person you felt so qualified to judge.

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