Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover, Love Instead!
Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover, Love Instead!
This world sometimes can be so full of judgment we get judged by just about everything we do, say, wear, etc. More often then not we get judged by our outward appearances. This world can be pretty harsh including Godly people. These days some people feel they can't do anything without being heavily judged for doing so. Even if someone is in sinful habits it's not our place to judge them, we can help them to know that it is wrong in a loving way, but to shame them for it wrong.
People get shamed for being overweight, having glasses, having disabilities, being religious, sinful habits, etc. Why is our world like this? Honestly, I think its because a majority of our world is without God, and those who have God haven't learned how to love as God loves us. Now I'm not saying all Christians are like this of course, but a lot of us can be harsh to other members in church communities. So many people need Jesus around us but they wouldn't know who he is because of some of the church's approaches. We as a whole (Christians) have to do better, not just in churches but out in the communities.
Judging a book by its cover doesn't just mean people. In general judging, anything from the outside instead of the heart of it can be damaging. If you judge a bible by how big and confusing it is then you'll never know how much outpour of Jesus is really in it! The bible to some people just feels like a foreign object that just collects dust around the house, but it is so much more than that. Judging a person before you know the value of their heart is damaging. Learning to know what's inside someone's heart makes all the difference for you and someone else.
A lot of times I've been judged by my outward appearance as well as the way I do things that can be different from everyone. I've been judged for having disabilities not many people do know that I have, but in my past experiences once I've mentioned my disabilities I've gotten judged for it. I got judged the harshest for my disabilities by my father. He never thought of me as succeeding if I had disabilities. I felt most of my life I had to try and prove him wrong, when in fact I just found out eventually that I had no use in pleasing the unpleasable.
Sometimes you just got to move to the fact that some people cannot be pleased with anything. Some people would still not be impressed if you went to the end of the Earth and back for them. Why try to please them anyway though? God should be the only person you have the true desire to please. I mean it's good to try and please your parents but after a while as long as you know you tried and God still loves you that's all that counts! Sometimes you have to accept defeat and move on with the wisdom of God.
Why do others feel the need to shame us for our sinful actions? Shaming only makes the matter in the situation worse. Why can't we encourage them to come to God instead of pushing them towards their own defeat? Show them how much Grace and forgiveness God has given them. Lead them to repentance and show them that God is so loving towards them. Don't give them the feeling of having to hide things because of judgment. God sees sin as sin not to be compared with everyone else's sins. God has forgiven everything he can possibly forgive of you and threw away the evidence of your sin. God chose to love us despite our sinful behaviors so why can't we choose to love others as well. Loving others shows that you have the power to give God's grace to people who need it/ want it!
Loving others can be easier said than done. How do we love the difficult to love? Sometimes we can't love them until we love ourselves, and maybe we're the difficult people we try to love. Also, some people have to be loved from a distance. If loving them means having to them go from your life then let them go.
Going back to loving ourselves, you can't wholeheartedly love someone else if you don't love yourself and shame yourself for your own actions. If you haven't forgiven yourself from your sin, then you can never feel other's love or God's the right way, much less love others. There will always be a God-shaped hole that you fill with untruthful things. Even if you think that anything you have done is unforgivable, believe me, nothing would ever make God not forgive and still love you. It's not God that holds it against us, It's ourselves. Learn to give yourself and others grace. It's ok to mess up, it's not ok to live in the shame of it. Give it to God, repent, move forward, and forgive!
People get shamed for being overweight, having glasses, having disabilities, being religious, sinful habits, etc. Why is our world like this? Honestly, I think its because a majority of our world is without God, and those who have God haven't learned how to love as God loves us. Now I'm not saying all Christians are like this of course, but a lot of us can be harsh to other members in church communities. So many people need Jesus around us but they wouldn't know who he is because of some of the church's approaches. We as a whole (Christians) have to do better, not just in churches but out in the communities.
Judging a book by its cover doesn't just mean people. In general judging, anything from the outside instead of the heart of it can be damaging. If you judge a bible by how big and confusing it is then you'll never know how much outpour of Jesus is really in it! The bible to some people just feels like a foreign object that just collects dust around the house, but it is so much more than that. Judging a person before you know the value of their heart is damaging. Learning to know what's inside someone's heart makes all the difference for you and someone else.
A lot of times I've been judged by my outward appearance as well as the way I do things that can be different from everyone. I've been judged for having disabilities not many people do know that I have, but in my past experiences once I've mentioned my disabilities I've gotten judged for it. I got judged the harshest for my disabilities by my father. He never thought of me as succeeding if I had disabilities. I felt most of my life I had to try and prove him wrong, when in fact I just found out eventually that I had no use in pleasing the unpleasable.
Sometimes you just got to move to the fact that some people cannot be pleased with anything. Some people would still not be impressed if you went to the end of the Earth and back for them. Why try to please them anyway though? God should be the only person you have the true desire to please. I mean it's good to try and please your parents but after a while as long as you know you tried and God still loves you that's all that counts! Sometimes you have to accept defeat and move on with the wisdom of God.
Why do others feel the need to shame us for our sinful actions? Shaming only makes the matter in the situation worse. Why can't we encourage them to come to God instead of pushing them towards their own defeat? Show them how much Grace and forgiveness God has given them. Lead them to repentance and show them that God is so loving towards them. Don't give them the feeling of having to hide things because of judgment. God sees sin as sin not to be compared with everyone else's sins. God has forgiven everything he can possibly forgive of you and threw away the evidence of your sin. God chose to love us despite our sinful behaviors so why can't we choose to love others as well. Loving others shows that you have the power to give God's grace to people who need it/ want it!
Loving others can be easier said than done. How do we love the difficult to love? Sometimes we can't love them until we love ourselves, and maybe we're the difficult people we try to love. Also, some people have to be loved from a distance. If loving them means having to them go from your life then let them go.
Going back to loving ourselves, you can't wholeheartedly love someone else if you don't love yourself and shame yourself for your own actions. If you haven't forgiven yourself from your sin, then you can never feel other's love or God's the right way, much less love others. There will always be a God-shaped hole that you fill with untruthful things. Even if you think that anything you have done is unforgivable, believe me, nothing would ever make God not forgive and still love you. It's not God that holds it against us, It's ourselves. Learn to give yourself and others grace. It's ok to mess up, it's not ok to live in the shame of it. Give it to God, repent, move forward, and forgive!
Comments