God is the judge of mankind and only he has the right to an opinion on the spiritual status of a person. If God is willing to forgive and show grace and kindness to a person, then who are we to think and act differently? If God is willing to put aside a person’s sins, then so should we. When we take the position of judge over other people, we are putting ourselves in God’s place, which puts us in conflict with God. This is a serious sin and far worse than any surface level ‘moral’ transgression. We are most inclined to judge others for some moral failure. Ironically, however, when we take this judgemental attitude, we are committing a more serious sin than the one we are judging the other person for. There may be significant distinctions between people from a moral perspective. One may indeed be more morally observant than another. But moral failure isn’t the main problem with people. The real core problem is that of independence and autonomy: we live without God and in defiance of his absolute claim on our lives. We all do this far too much, and, in this sense, we are all in the same boat. A person might live a moral life outwardly and yet do so independently of God. Such a person is in a far worse state than one who struggles morally but earnestly seeks God’s grace and help. Let’s stop preoccupying ourselves with other people’s sins and start paying attention to our own. We would all be better off if we did this.
Ask God to show you what concerns him most in your life right now.
Read Matthew 7:1-6
