One of my greatest struggles as a man of God is striving to not be judgmental of others. I will admit for a long period in my life I would place myself above others simply because I considered myself more morally sound then them. I even found myself judging other Christians to the point I didn't want to associate with them because I considered myself to be better.
This simply was a horrible way to be living my life claiming to be a strong Christian. For one I am not perfect myself and as Jesus told the crowd in John, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And secondly being part of a "body of Christ", I should be working to build up others in Christ not breaking them down.
With that said I have come across many examples of why I should be lifting others up instead of tearing them apart. One of these examples is a passage from James 4:11-12 "Do not speak evil against one another brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" Another example I hear frequently comes from a song by my favorite band Relient K which says "the judge of you is someone I could never be..." from there the song speaks about everyone having second chances to do right in the eyes of the Lord.
Recently I have been striving to not look down upon others for I truthfully have no right to. It is a continuous battle but I can say God has given me a softer heart to work at this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcWQZyXHu5Y
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
What is Fear...
I hear from peers that I am "wise" because I am able to give good advice for dealing with life's trials, but why is it that I can't listen to the advice I give and solve my own problems.
I can't seem to trust God enough to have control of my life, therefore I continually fall down. This is the same trust I advocate others to have when they come to me with issues. Today I realized that my major problem is I don't know what it means to FEAR the Lord.
I can't trust God because I don't fear him. Church today paints this picture of a loving God that we should never be scared of, but when reading the Old Testiment, people would almost pass out dead at the sight of him. This scripture points out a legitimate fear, not just a respect for the Lord.
Proverbs 9:10 says "The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom." Many people, including myself, try to live our lives without God's direction, because we never think about the immense power that he actually wields. His presence would immobilize us until he speaks the words "fear not" which would open us up to his loving nature. From here we can gain knowledge and live our lives the way he wants us to.
I need to stop trying so hard to do this on my own because I lose so much along the way. Luckily when I finally realize how ignorant I am for not trusting my omnipotent God, he puts me back together better then I was originally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3U6BCUQqG8
I will remember to fear and trust God from now on because I know now I can't do this on my own.
I can't seem to trust God enough to have control of my life, therefore I continually fall down. This is the same trust I advocate others to have when they come to me with issues. Today I realized that my major problem is I don't know what it means to FEAR the Lord.
I can't trust God because I don't fear him. Church today paints this picture of a loving God that we should never be scared of, but when reading the Old Testiment, people would almost pass out dead at the sight of him. This scripture points out a legitimate fear, not just a respect for the Lord.
Proverbs 9:10 says "The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom." Many people, including myself, try to live our lives without God's direction, because we never think about the immense power that he actually wields. His presence would immobilize us until he speaks the words "fear not" which would open us up to his loving nature. From here we can gain knowledge and live our lives the way he wants us to.
I need to stop trying so hard to do this on my own because I lose so much along the way. Luckily when I finally realize how ignorant I am for not trusting my omnipotent God, he puts me back together better then I was originally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3U6BCUQqG8
I will remember to fear and trust God from now on because I know now I can't do this on my own.
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