Released to Grace
Luke 6: 37
Do not judge.
Do you want to move from law and condemnation to grace and mercy? I can help you with that and I want to because being the keeper of the law is burdensome. Judgement exacts a price. It taxes your spirit, but it is also dangerous to your physical health so let’s set you free!
Spiritual Law – You cannot give away what you cannot receive.
People who judge others tend to be people who are hard themselves. If a person has difficulty receiving grace from God for themselves, they will tend to be rough on others. Though they may be nice people, lovers of God, their lives have a tinge of bitterness. You will often see a harsh edge to them. It seems to come from nowhere but there is a source, and it is self-loathing. They expect near perfection of themselves and transfer that rigidity to others. Now, the funny part about it is that they don’t always seem to be super self-critical. They sometimes give the impression of being self-impressed. None the less, what is needed is the fullness of grace and, indeed, it is the thing we all need.
I have noticed that some of the most critical people are the folks who seem to have their stuff together. The people who know they are a mess or have come from messy situations are so grateful for the grace of God that they tend to be a little less critical of others. They have a self-awareness that remembers the messy condition they were in before Jesus touched them. Those “Holier than Thou” people have cleaned up well, perhaps better than the rest of us. The strain of their judgments, though, is killing them and they deserve to be free. The critical spirit is a cruel task master.
We can become so wedded to the law that we fail to move in love. Our judgments precede us, rather than the love of God. As I wrote earlier in the year, it is easy to be judgmental because people are fallible. We are all one step away from doing or saying something stupid. So, when we look around us, opportunities abound for judgment. Here is the thing though, it is a crippling of our own spirit. Were we to actually forgive and accept ourselves, we would find ourselves less likely to judge others. If we will accept the grace and forgiveness the Father offers us, then we gain the ability to extend the same to others. It is our own self-condemnation that makes us so judgmental. If we will love ourselves and let the Father love us, if we will accept the love He has for us, then we can love others despite their shortcomings.
Our place is not to judge. We learned that from Jesus. What we may not have understood is that he gave us that advice to protect us, not others. It is our spirits which he was concerned about. He and Father want to share all their love with us, to hold us in their arms letting us know that we are accepted. When we allow them to fully love us, we will have love enough for our fellow human beings.
Grace and blessing to you in the beloved name of Jesus!
