I am grateful for the indescribable blessing of being a Christian. But I can’t help but feel bad whenever fellow Christians like me tend to judge others who may not believe in the same way.
When you judge another
How can we judge what’s in the heart of a person? Or how do we know that we would never fall from the pedestal we think we are at? One day, those unbelievers may be drawn to the love of Christ and even become saints.
Who are we to close the doors of the Church to those who are lost? Who are we to say who could never be saved?
More is given to you, O Christian. But more also will be required from you!
“For if you are ready to judge and despise another, God will correct you to your cost, and will permit you to fall into the same fault, that you may be convinced of your pride; that, by such a humiliation, you may at the same time find the remedy for both these sins.” -The Spiritual Combat
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”- Mother Teresa
The blessings you were given
The blessing that you have received does not in any way indicate that you deserved it. Instead of being proud for your righteousness, your faith should make you all the more humble.
“For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” – 1 Corinthians 4:7 (NRSVCE)
Because the only reason you may be living a different lifestyle away from other kinds of sins is that you have been given the grace by God. Had other people known and believed, they could have even been more fervent in faith.
The need for humility
Take a look at your own heart before you judge another. You can correct a brother or a sister, but remember to do it in love.
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” – Matthew 7:1-7 (NRSVCE)
Give others the benefit of the doubt. Don’t immediately think that a person is fully aware of the sin one has committed.
Pray and find in God’s glory a cause for humility. The one in greater danger of losing salvation is the one who thinks he or she has no more need for the grace of God.
“Man approaches God most nearly when he is in one sense least like God. For what can be more unlike than fullness and need, sovereignty and humility, righteousness and penitence, limitless power and a cry for help?”― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
“Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” – Matthew 21:31 (NABRE)
The need for compassion
We all need to have compassion for each other. But to have compassion, we must first recognize our weaknesses.
When we can finally sense the pain of our neighbor, perhaps we can begin to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Because then, our neighbor would hear not only the words that we say. They would also see God’s goodness in the testimony of our lives.
“Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” – Saint Augustine
Jocelyn Soriano is the author of Mend My Broken Heart, Questions to God and 366 Days of Compassion. She also writes about relationships and the Catholic faith at Single Catholic Writer.
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