are you a judgement free zone?

have you ever gotten bruises and have no idea where they came from? yea i have this one on my hip, indicating that i ran into a counter corner or something. it kills. don't remember when that would have happened ..... also i have some killer mosquito bites which i find incredibly irritating since they are on my foot. but i guess there are worse things in life arent there..

so anyways,

i figured i would write my post prior to figuring out how the loan service screwed up my mail/payments. thought the post would be a bit more pleasant to read. :)

for some reason, over the last few months i have really really focused on judging others. or should i say, not judging others. and holding my tongue.

so again, let's be sentimental since thats what works right now :-p and for what my words and opinions are worth, away we go...

let's throw out Matthew 7:1-2 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

with that, what makes us any better than the person to the left or right? we dont really know their heart or what their story is. in all reality, only God knows that. see my issue with Christianity is the stereotypes that come along with it. it's hard to not be a Christian, and it's even harder to be a Christian. believe it or not, there are Christians out there that remain open minded and non judgmental.

some of my closest friends that have not judged me or the decisions that i have made over the years impacted me the most. the consistency in their friendship and the stability they provided was a true testament of what it was, and what it should be, like to be a friend of faith. i'm sure that God didnt intend for us to condemn each other, belittle each other, and point out our "flaws" or what we think is wrong. God teaches us to love one another. not to love just the ones that go to church every sunday or the ones that read their Bible every day or show good and a lending hand.

Jesus' time on earth is a trust testament of how we should live and treat one another. take a look in the Bible. who did Jesus hang out with the most? not just the believers but the non-believers. sure he had his crew of disciples that followed him everywhere. but how did he teach them his lessons? he taught them through meeting, praying, and healing those who were a bit different than them. right? check it out if you don't believe me or if you need a refresher. ;-)

"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous..." (read Matt. 5:43-48) In a way, doesn't that verse tell us to love those who are different, even if that difference is evil or good, righteous or unrighteous? The love that He pours down on us daily touches everyone. not certain people. which leads me to conclude, that who are we to judge? if you want to make an impact on someone, chose to listen, show support and love them vs. turning away, expressing your disagreement and/or pointing your finger at them and telling them they are wrong.

take it for what it's worth. as always, i am just voicing my personal thoughts. living alone doesn't really allow me to voice my thoughts and opinions very well. also, i think my walls are getting tired of hearing my jibberish. [oh if walls could talk...] ;-)

la ta di da, that's a wrap.