My brain is a bit cluttered these days. As a result of our ever-diminishing attention spans and ever-advancing age, I spend a good deal of time wondering whether I actually said something aloud or just thought it and intended to say it. No doubt I’m closing in on that age where people expect me to repeat myself and just nod and smile, then tell stories about me behind my back. I know I’ve stifled my share of giggles over the years, but wouldn’t we much rather spend time with someone who’s at least entertaining?
There are lots of headlines these days about censorship and although I agree with the danger of any corporation, government, or individual’s computer algorithm determining what should or should not be shared, I can’t help wondering whether this discussion would even be necessary if each of us gave a little more thought to our words before we speak them, and a lot more attention to where we’re getting our ideas in the first place!
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters:
You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”
James 1:19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.1.19.NLT
From the Latin “praejudicium” where “prae” means in advance and “judicium” means judgement, we’ve concocted the word prejudice. We all prejudge someone or some set of circumstances, or render judgement prematurely, many times daily. Our own unique set of life experiences combined with a hearty diet of informational input causes us to view the world through shaded lenses. The ways we try to categorize people, places, and things is simply our way of justifying our own judgements.
“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.
If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?”
James 2:1-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.2.1-4.NLT
“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.
It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.
It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.
It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”
James 3:17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.3.17.NLT
We use good judgment when we seek to protect those who are helpless or encourage those who are hopeless. We exercise better judgement when we acknowledge God’s Word as absolute truth and allow it to become our standard. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned against judging others, but He also warns His followers to be discerning.
““Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.
For you will be treated as you treat others.
The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.
This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 7:1-2, 12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.7.1-12.NLT
While many teachers in Jesus’s day and ours faithfully share the truth of God, others, whom Jesus called false prophets, belong to the enemy and seek only to deceive. Luke noted that the Jews in Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, praising them for diligently searching the scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were telling them the truth. We use good judgement when we do likewise.
“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.
Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.
A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
Matthew 7:16-18, 20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.7.16-20.NLT
“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.
At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!”
2 Corinthians 5:16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.16.NLT
As His disciples, we love Him, His Word, and His Creation- all of it. We can’t separate love from the truth of God’s Word because God is love. There is no love apart from God.
“We, though, are going to love—love and be loved.
First we were loved, now we love.
He loved us first.”
1 John 4:19 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/1jn.4.19.MSG
“God’s people must listen to him. They have God’s “law” in their hearts (Isa. 51:7): the word properly means “instruction,” and may here include not only the Law of Moses but all the instruction of God mediated through prophets and priests alike.
If this word is what anchors you, the next injunction is manageable: “Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults” (Isa. 51:7).
For The Love Of God: Day 170 • Devotional
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/786/day/170?segment=0
“So now I am giving you a new commandment:
Love each other.
Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:34-35 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.13.34-35.NLT
“If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.
Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.
But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness.
Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.
So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.
And who is a liar?
Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ.
Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either.
But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning.
If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.
And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.
I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray.
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true.
For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie.
So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.”
1 John 2:9-11, 20-28 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.2.9-28.NLT
“Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning.
This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.
Yet it is also new.
Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it.
For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.”
1 John 2:7-8 NLT
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