Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“ ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, February 3, 2021
by Daniel D. Maurer, Clergy Stuff
I have to admit, some of the images I find online when I typed “judging others” in Google were a bit disturbing. The one you see for this week, too, was less so much disturbing as it was humorous.
The thing about judging others is that all too often we’re really only judging ourselves first.
Jesus made clear the damage that judging others has to us, first. You wouldn’t think that he’d speak first to how judging hurts you. It works this way, because when we judge others, we place certain standards on them that all too often speak to our own issues. We try to pawn off our issues on others and see ourselves as superior or ‘worthy’ of God’s love on the basis of our actions.
We’re not loved by God by our actions; we’re loved by God, because that’s what God does, and that changes our actions. It’s a subtle difference than from other religions (and, no, I’m not judging them!), but the one very unique aspect of Christianity is its direction of God’s love and acceptance, while still holding us accountable to think of others before ourselves.
God, open my heart to you. Amen.
