Day 2241 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Romans 14:10 NIV

It really is incredible just how pervasive judgement is. Even the most kind and caring person can still fall into that trap. We look around at others and see the differences. We judge the choices that they make. We look at someone else's mistakes and wonder how they could be so foolish. We think that we could never be so weak or make such poor decisions. But the fact is that we're all weak and we all make those bad choices. So none of us have room to judge!

It dawned on me the other night that I still do far more judging than I should. It's one of those things that I know isn't okay and I don't want to do it. And it's always for some petty little thing that has no significance at all. But I think we get used to doing something so often that it almost becomes natural. It's one of those sneaky wrongs that all of us get tripped up by.

What I think we need to remember is that each of us have plenty of things to work on ourselves. Not a single one of us can claim that we're without sin or weakness. There's not a person alive who can say that they've never messed up. So for us to look around at others and judge them for their mistakes is one of the most hypocritical things that we can do. Pointing out the flaws of someone else while we have a whole bunch of our own.

It'll never be our place to judge anyone else. We have no right to look down on anyone or to think that we're better than they are. Truth is that we're all imperfect people who make countless mistakes every day. Standing in judgement or thinking that others are beneath us goes against the very message of the cross. Christ died for everyone because we're all equally screwed up. But His gift shows that we're all equally loved too!

So if He loves everyone the same then we need to stop acting like He doesn't. Sin is sin and we should never look at someone else differently because they sin differently than we do. Maybe we should just love one another and help each other grow. Maybe we should put all the petty nonsense aside and pour our time and effort into building one another up instead. I think it's pretty easy to see how that would be far more beneficial for everyone!

As the last line in this verse says, we're all going to stand before God's judgment seat. He will be interested in the choices we've made. He will ask for an account of our words and actions. He's not going to ask us for a list of everything everyone else got wrong. That's between them and Him. So we need to stay in our own lane and focus on getting our own lives straightened out. Judging others only pulls us further in the wrong direction.