Judge not

Judge not, and he shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.  Luke 6:37

In life, it is so important for us to attempt to refrain from judging other people!  It is so easy to judge others to make ourselves feel better.  For example, we may have a tendency to tell a white lie or gossip, but we feel like it's not as bad as the person who has committed adultery or has been stuck in prostitution for a number of years.  Similarly, we may have been stuck in prostitution or on drugs years ago but we feel justified in judging now because it was so long ago.  We must not only extend God's grace to ourselves but we must also learn to extend it to others.  This is what happened in eighth chapter of John when the scribes and the Pharisees caught the woman in the act of adultery.  This woman was caught in the very act of sleeping with a man that was not her husband and was brought before Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees recounted how the Law of Moses said she should be stoned  to death (John 8:5).  What is interesting about this account is that they brought the woman before Jesus but not the man she was caught with.  It's almost as if they felt that the act of adultery was worst for her because she was a woman.  This is the same thing we do today.  We often feel that our sin is not as bad as someone else's not realizing that even a white lie is repugnant in the eyes of a holy and unblemished God!  Notice what Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery though, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" (John 8:11).  Notice that the ability for the woman to sin no more was a direct result of the gift of no condemnation.  We must ask for the Holy Spirit's help in not judging others!  I once knew a young woman that always judged those who conceived out of wedlock and she ended up in a very difficult and similar situation.  Let us not forget to extend God's grace to others and to ourselves when we miss it as well!