When I was 6 years old my step-grandmother committed suicide. She had been battling with depression for many, many years, and she finally came to the point where she felt she just couldn’t go on…
Us children were kept from seeing anything traumatic, but my parents told us what had happened and sympathetically explained that she was sick, and that she had shot herself because she didn’t know how to live anymore. They explained that this isn’t how God wants us to die, but that it didn’t mean my grandmother wasn’t a child of God. I remember that myself (aged 6), my cousin (aged 7) and my sister (aged 3) said a prayer that evening in innocent sincerity to ask Jesus to forgive my grandmother for taking her own life. I believe that this was not how God wanted her life to end, and that He still had good plans in store for her, but I think He allowed it because He understood what she was going through in that moment.
Although I can recall what happened since we got the call, I am lucky enough that it wasn’t really a traumatic event for me. There was, however, a single part of the circumstances under which my grandmother died, that has influenced my life and being immensely: when she pulled the trigger, her Bible lay opened next to her, with the following Bible verse highlighted:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”
~ Matthew 7:1-2, ESV
“Judge not…”
Even though I seldom thought on the events of her passing, these words were etched into my heart as a final truth that she shared on her death-bed, and it’s one of the Scriptures that have most influenced my being.
In the course of my work, I had a discussion with a person of another faith yesterday. It was an open, somewhat philosophic discussion, and although I have no desire to follow their religious beliefs, I am adamant about being respectful towards it. When I drove home, I prayed and realized that the opposite of judgement is acceptance.
One of my deepest desires is to live a life that is free of judgement. I pray that any kind of person will feel welcome in my company, that they will feel accepted and never judged when they are around me. I have the active mindset that since God is the Only One Who knows each of our deepest beings, our complete history as well as every circumstance that have influenced who we are right now… that He is the Only One Who can ever judge a human being. It is not my place or responsibility to decide on the fate of anyone else, based on what they do or believe, because if Jesus Christ could forgive and save a murderer on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) – in his last moments, with nothing to offer – then I have no business trying to pass a judgement on people based on what they do.
This doesn’t mean that any action or deed is acceptable or right. Let me illustrate an example: I can personally never be reconciled with the idea of abortion, BUT I am conscious not to judge people who have chosen to abort a baby. I realize that people make choices with the information they have on hand at the moment – and whether these choices are truly right or wrong, the person who made the choice thought they did what was right or best. It causes me to respond to them with compassion and acceptance of their person, even when they did something that I believe to be wrong. (I pray that others will look on my mistakes with the same mercy and grace as I try to show others.)
Isn’t this how Jesus responded to those He met during His life? You only have to read the Gospels to see that the judgemental, proud, “religious” folk were very uncomfortable with Him, but that the sinners were welcomed and accepted by Him. He knew their complete history and beings, and what caused them to do what they did, and He knew that they would be drawn to God when they see His love. They were accepted in Jesus’ company – not because Jesus endorsed their wrong actions, but because He understood and had compassion for each person. (Matt. 9:36, Matt. 14:14, Matt. 15:32, Matt. 20:34, Mark 1:41, Luke 7:36-50, Luke 19:5, John 8:11)
What a beautiful place the world would be if every Christian were to respond to a broken world with compassion instead of judgement. How many broken-hearted people could receive the love of a Saviour if they felt accepted when coming to a church service. And… how broken might our Father’s heart feel when we try to pass a judgement on people He created, people He loves with unending love, made in His Image… that Only HE is qualified to do… (Yet Jesus said that He didn’t come to judge the world, but to save it and to give His Life for each person in it. John 12:47)
The Bible says that there will be a day of judgement, but it is not yet. (Matt. 12:36) Until then, each person – regardless of any factor – CAN be saved, and it’s not my place to condemn them for sinning different than me. May God have mercy to help me reflect His light and love in this broken world, that others will desire to know Him even as He knows them.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
~ Matthew 5:16
Blessings*
Blessed Beyond Measure 