Yours is Bigger Than Mine

Cursing. Lying. Cheating on a test. Bootlegging movies. Making personal copies at work. Tax evasion. Cheating on a spouse. Child abuse. Incest. Rape. Murder.

Christians were placed here on earth to judge everyone. We have so many causes. Condemn those who abort. Treat the poor like dirt. Abolish same-sex unions. The list is endless. There's a tiny problem with this plan though. We are not without blame. Therefore, we cannot blame. Hmmm.

Says who? The Son of God. John 8:7 gives us a glimpse into the mind of the religious teachers and Pharisees. There was a woman who was caught in an adulterous act. Since Moses' law required her to be stoned, they decided to ask Jesus what they should do. The scripture says they were trying to trap Him so they'd have an offense against Him. He simply told them that the one without sin should throw the first stone.

There really isn't any gray area here. Since we are not without sin, we are to cast NO stones. If we look carefully, we will see that He does not refute the law, He simply showed them how ill-equipped they were to judge her. She was no more or less of a sinner than they.

The same is true for us today. We are actually sinning by condemning others. This does not mean that we overlook sins. However, we should examine ourselves and our motives before casting stones at another. Sins do not have levels or degrees. But for God's grace, we would all be lost. Condemned to hell forever.

My challenge for myself is to judge ME whenever I get thew urge to judge another. Doesn't it feel good to say, "Well I did this, but at least I didn't do that." We are always comparing in a feeble attempt to make ourselves feel better. May God help me to turn that energy inward and examine my own heart and life instead. I think I'll start with negative thoughts... Or maybe complaining... Or maybe complacency... This could take a while!