Devotions by James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful Life
If we judge others it will be impossible to help them and they only get angry and may try to retaliate. Judging is like throwing pearls before the swine…pigs can’t digest pearls and neither can people digest being judged!
If we can quit our habit of judging we are in a position to help others. First we must take the log out of our own eye with the help of the Spirit. Then we can ask, seek and knock which is first of all praying for the other person. When we do that our hearts shift to the person’s well-being and we begin to feel compassion for him. Prayer also helps us to accurately assess another’s situation. As we pray we are inviting God into the situation and we begin to feel less critical.
We also have the wisdom of God available to us to give guidance. The whole situation is in His hands and He knows the secrets of the heart. As we pray for the person we need to communicate to him that we are standing with him in whatever struggle he is going through. He is not alone. It may mean coming along side of him and making sacrifices of our own time and energy.
Jesus also says we should do to others as we would have them do to us. Matt. 7:12. If we are in a situation where we need to correct someone, we need to ask ourselves, how would we want to be dealt with? Would we want to be judged or rather prayed for and having someone stand with us?
We can start today by refusing to say negative things about someone and trusting God to help us silence as much gossip as we can.
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