Living Above Judgment…

The time period we live in today is referred to in the Bible as “Man’s Day” where man does all the judging. Have you ever noticed? The world we live in lives embroiled in judgments. People judge how you look, where you live and the car you drive. It is as if they are all part of a larger system doling out value and worthiness in order that one may rank himself higher than someone else. Like someone devised a large measuring scale that indicated whether or not one was living a “good” life as measured by the collective approval and judgment of everyone else. And, those illusory judgments rule the world and everyone in it. You cannot go an hour without being judged by something or someone in order to diminish your value and keep you bound. You can hear it in your words and your conclusions as you participate in the game, which is not really a game but a stealer of life and happiness and most of all, freedom. God never wanted you and I to live in a world of constant, disapproving judgment. There is a way above it but it requires understanding the 3 Pillars of Judgment the enemy uses to defeat you. Live above judgment.

The biggest lie of all is the notion that God is perpetually judging people and subsequently punishing people, then judging more people and subsequently assigning harsher and harsher penalties. That is not the way of God. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. I can assure you God is not judging you. His will is not to convict the world of sin, but to reconcile the world back unto Himself. Sin caused the separation. God made a way to remove the separation and reconcile us unto Himself wherein there is no judgment from Him towards us, ever, in light of the finished work of His son. To live your life in fear of God’s judgment is to be both robbed and deceived at the same time. That endless, nagging, persistent and pervasive voice of judgment towards you does not come from Him. He does not seek to punish you, but rather to heal you. He doesn’t seek your best performance, He seeks your heart. He wants your freewill love as He freely loves you. Pillar One: Live above judgment. God is not judging you.

For some reason I can’t quite ascertain, people love to judge. It’s like an enjoyable burst of I’m better that hits your nervous system every time you judge someone. And by judge I mean find fault with in some capacity. Too fat, too skinny, too lazy, not smart, too dark, too light, too careless, not right. And in the judgment one seeks superiority, but only receives more judgment. Add further injury, the standards for judgment vary with each individual and how brutally they were judged. And, God forbid that someone judge you negatively. You must immediately fight to regain approval. You must either agree or acquiesce before any potential breach occurs. And woe unto you if the world hates you. You must fit in, get in line, follow the established path, do it the way they said you had to do it and do not try anything new. Stay small. Stay diminished. Stay in your lane. Pillar Two: Live Above Judgment. We do not live according to people’s judgments of us. Their judgment is not the standard.

And now the gnarliest of all. The absolute suffocation of life, drowning you from the inside out. The harsh judgments you render against yourself. Those negative conclusions about yourself you no longer question, let alone fight. You judge yourself for your own unworthiness because someone convinced you, you were unworthy. Someone told you God was angry with you and that’s why the unspeakable thing happened. Or your family disowned you for some mistakes you made albeit irreversible, that cannot be forgiven. Else your own opinion of yourself has so degraded that you, unbeknownst to you, have become the walking, breathing epitome of evil, always wrong, always to be questioned, never to be trusted or understood. As long as you live under the delusion that your value and worth are gained (or lost) by the things that you do is as long as you are going to remain a prisoner in your own mind. God did not teach you that system, the world did. You cannot earn your own righteousness before God no matter how hard you work. You just have to accept the free gift of righteousness that came via the work of another man (Jesus Christ). Pillar Three: Live Above Judgment. God does not judge you. Do not judge yourself.

Man’s Day is no joke friends. It’s a negative slice of time where man gets to do all the judging with all of the division and hate and discord that follows. God does not want you to live under the yoke of bondage because of the judgments of men. All that glitters is not gold. People are not the authority. You are not even the authority. The authority is God. If God is not judging you, why would you submit yourself to that type of life? It is not life at all. It is slavery brought about by an enemy that does not want you to live in the freedom God gave you. Live above judgment.

Just some good thoughts.