(ThyBlackMan.com) Minding one’s own business never seems to be the priority of enough people. Everyone seems to have something to say about how everyone is living, walking, talking and doing. However, none of us want to be on the receiving end of the judgment that we pass out; this is basic hypocrisy. It happens so often that many of us are hypocrites, and we do it without even thinking about it. Too many of us seem to know God’s “law” when it’s time to talk about another. We go to family functions only to sit back and look at our family members, and we critique every single aspect of their lives that we’re allowed to see. We also speculate about everything we cannot see…basically we’re starting or feeding rumors.
Unfortunately, it even happens when someone passes away. We sit in the funeral and look at what a person wore, how they handle their grief, how they speak, and we critique it harshly. We leave the church headed into the repass whereby we sit again in judgment, and high critique of everything that we see around us. We look at parents with their children, and instead of praying for the ones that we see struggling, we judge their ability to be parents. I’m not talking about speaking up in areas of abuse or things that really need to be looked into. No, I mean what did the child eat? Did they have wrinkles in their shirts? Was their hair combed properly to your standard, but it’s not your child. We do this when we don’t know what that person is going through, and we are not offering any manner of assistance.
Many of us are willing to champion mental health causes and we appear to want mental health to be important and we speak on it. Unfortunately, that only applies publicly, because in private we are the enemies of the very thing we claim to support. When we go to church on Sunday we’re willing to judge the faith of others, and the Christianity of others. We will literally sit back and judge another person’s salvation like we have a heaven or hell to put them in. We want to tell you who’s born again and who’s not. This is based solely on what we see, regardless of whether they are new to the body of Christ or they’re veterans or somewhere in between, but we have something to say about it. The question is, can you live under the same microscope that you put others under, or do you exclude yourself?
May I suggest you examine your own walk with God before you judge anyone else’s. Yes, you fall short of the glory just like everyone else; you are not the exception. There are times when your presentation is not perfect, your words are hurtful, your actions are out of order, and your understanding of biblical principle is not perfect. This may be difficult for you to stomach especially if you are a part of clergy; some of you ministers do get this wrong also as surely as you’re human. Some of you have problems within your own households. There are too many of us having trouble managing our own families. Some of you can stand to love your spouse better. Some of you need to focus more on the rearing of your own children.
While your child may be having academic or behavior struggles, you’re busy judging another parents’ child. Before you sit high and mighty looking down on others, it may be time to really turn the mirror on yourself. If you’re questioning why your growth isn’t happening as you need it, and why there’s not adequate progress in your life, the answer may be that you aren’t watering your own garden. You aren’t tending to your own life.
Life is a challenge for each and every human being on the planet. If we took the time to focus on the things that we need to get done for ourselves and for our own families, pay attention to our own faith, and walk with God, we will find that we wouldn’t have much time to judge others. We would also find more empathy and care in our hearts where others are concerned. We would see more progress in our own lives.
The fruit of our labor will be seen in our children, our families, and our interactions with other people. When we examine our own walk it allows us to make the corrections that we need to make as we are then being accountable for our own actions, and this in itself would help usher in a different type of joy in our own life. Maybe we would actually have a shot at truly being happy versus some surface level form of happiness that never seems to stick around, because it’s not genuine. If you are busy tearing down others and judging their walk with God, how could you possibly be happy in your own life? Before telling the truth, do take care of yourself?
At the end of the day, if you believe in God, then you believe in the judgment that you would have to stand before Him one day. I promise you he’s not gonna ask you any questions about anyone else. He’s only gonna wanna know about your life, and how you lived it. So maybe you should start there. That would be an encouragement to others. If you want to affect the walk of someone else, allow yourself to be a light that shines. A lighthouse doesn’t have to speak, all that must do is shine.
Staff Writer; Chelle’ St James
May also connect with this sister via Twitter; ChelleStJames.
