Your Daily Devotional for July 21, 2006

 

July 21, 2006

 

Loving Without Judging

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

 

John 7:24

 

Think back with me to the good old days of being a kid. Remember in grade school when you would choose teams and play games? There was always one kid no one ever picked. Did you ever wonder how that kid felt? Maybe you were that kid. Kids are notorious for judging others, but we grown ups can do it as well.

 

Have you ever looked down on someone because of how they dressed or for what they didn’t have? Did you ever stop to realize that you have something in common with them? You both need the Saviour! Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” The word world in that verse literally means “the earth and all its inhabitants.”

 

When Jesus came to die on the cross, He came for all of us, regardless of race, age, gender, or economical status. The last part of that verse says, “…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The word whosoever means “all, any, every, the whole, anyone, everyone, whomever.” We all say that Jesus died for everyone but do we really believe it?

 

When was the last time you tried to hurry past a strange-looking person at the mall? Jesus died for them. How many times have you picked a different check-out line because the teenager behind the cash register may have looked different than you? Jesus died for them too. We must realize that everyone deserves a chance to hear the Gospel and get saved!

I once read the story of a new mother. She said, “As we were getting ready to leave the restaurant we had been eating at on Christmas Day, little baby Erik became enamored with a homeless man who sat near the door. I tried to get him outside before anything happened, but before I knew it, he had jumped from my arms into the old man’s arms.

“Erik, in an act of total trust, love, and submission, laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands, full of grime, pain, and hard labor, gently cradled my baby and stroked his back. He said in a gentle voice, ‘God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift.’

 

“I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, ‘God please forgive me.’ I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking ‘Are you willing to share your son for a moment?’ when He shared His for all eternity.”

 

Friend, do you judge people by the way they look like on the outside? God sees everyone as the human being that He created. He loved the world enough to die for every single person! Whether it’s the mentally disabled person at the store or the wild teenager at the mall, Jesus loved them so much that He died for them. May we never think ourselves higher than anyone else, and may we never let a person’s outward appearance hinder us from telling them of God’s love for them. They are still going to spend eternity somewhere!

 

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