A new perception

On Sunday, we had a guest speaker at church.  His message was about not judging.
         His reading was from the book of James and he talked about not showing favoritism and not passing judgement on people.

He shared an illustration that had a big impact on my life and I felt the need to share it.

     Have you ever walked into a grocery store and seen the lady with the out-of-control kids?  You know, the one with the toddler sitting in the cart pulling things off the shelf, while the other two kids run around like crazy wild animals?

....we've all seen her and we've all most likely passed some sort of judgement on her like....

• What is wrong with this mom?  She needs to take control over these kids.
• This is exactly what's wrong with our society today.
• Those kids are going to grow up without any form of discipline.
• The list goes on and on...

Judgement: An opinion formed by judging something; the act of judging or assessing a person or situation or event.

What you may not know about that mom, but what God sees is:

That at the age of 2 her father died and she was raised by an abusive mom. 
That because of the abuse she vowed she wouldn't abuse her children.
That 6 months ago her husband and the father to those children died in Afghanistan serving our Country.  That it pains her to see her children grow up without a father and that is why she gives them grace.
That she is working 3 part time jobs to put the little food that she can afford on the table. 
That she is tired.  Enough said.

Tears streamed down my face....
How many times had I passed judgement on that mom?  Lord help me to be more compassionate and loving.  Help me to see people as you see them.