God's Love

“I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”            

      1 Corinthians 4:3-5

I find these verses very intriguing in the light of what God has been teaching me the last few weeks.  It has been brought to my heart that I have not been seeing myself for who God sees me to be.  Results of that in my life have been low self esteem, seeking approval of others and therefore, judging others and looking on them in the same way I was judging and looking at myself. 

 You see, when we see ourselves as God sees us (if you are a born again believer) then the bible tells us these truths… God sees us as holy , blameless and without blemish. He sees us as fully pleasing to him. Because of Christ blood on the cross , he has covered all of our unrighteousness.  Col. 1:19-22 We are accepted by God.  Nothing can separate us from His love for us.

I was saved in 1983. I was 8. I knew then that Christ paid it all for me and that I did nothing to deserve it... that while I was yet a sinner (Romans 5:8) Christ died for me.

Somewhere my perception changed. Why did it change? It changed because over time I started believing the one who would deceive me.. the father of lies.. he would deceive me , slowly over years, into thinking that I could and should do more for God to be pleased with me. That I needed to do more and that I was not good enough. It became very works based and in that I began to see others through judgmental eyes.  Eyes that saw people for who I thought they should be. I was hard on myself and very hard on others. I had forgotten that it was nothing that I did to deserve forgiveness in the first place.

Over and over in God’s word He commands us to love God and love others. When I love God and realize all that he is done for me…that I didn’t deserve, then I see myself as he sees me. Which humbles me. Then In seeing myself this way I am able to take off these judgmental eyes and see others as God sees them too.

TO LOVE OTHERS!

Now back to these verses in 1 Corinthians. 

1. “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  Why do we care so much of what others think of us? We are not even to judge ourselves… to be so hard on ourselves. God has accepted us. 

2. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent..  We are all still in need of Christ every day... to die to ourselves.. 

3. . It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.

The Lord knows the heart. While we should confront sin... we are not to judge the hearts of men.  We are to LOVE ONE ANOTHER, we are to forgive one another and to see with compassionate eyes. Jesus ate with the tax collectors.. he loved the unlovable.. that is all of us. 

Lord help me to see with compassionate eyes…. Give me the words to draw others to You without pushing them away. Help me to understand more and more Your love for me. That I may do your work… that I would not try to be a judge and jury to people but that I would humble myself to your will and see myself and others as you see them.