"But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin." R1423
This chapter "You Be the Judge" has led me to a long talk with my Heavenly Husband over several days. I find it impressive how my Beloved uses everything in such a delicate and precise way to treat those areas in my heart that he wants to heal, in this case closely related to my perfectionism. We have been talking a lot about the Pharisee, religious and moralistic spirit. It has allowed me to realize that it is precisely those whom He chose first who became His enemies by falling into works based on customs (without love) and leaving aside the most important commandments that have to do with loving Him and our neighbor. , I quickly became alert because as a human being, I can easily fall into these schemes and slip into works, so I realized that walking in faith involves much more than I thought and that sometimes it is a habit, the way that we have always experienced as a society which distances us from HIM and His plan.
With respect to each of the cases presented, I would be lying if I said that I did not for a moment contemplate being a judge and giving my “verdict,” because in my perfectionist mind I always tend to separate the good from the bad. I mentally traveled through His word identifying the possible answers, but at the end of everything I understood that I CANNOT be a judge, because God, my Heavenly Father, is the only Judge, and Jesus our lawyer, so what HE gave me to understand is that It is about walking in FAITH, I believe that is why He encourages us to seek His guidance and plan for us personally with HIM. It reminds me of Hosea, which he recently took me to read, because the law for him at that time told him that priests must marry a virgin woman, but God personally told him that he should marry a prostitute. I remember that in a podcast I commented that if God told me to do something contrary to what His word [the Bible] says, He would have to give me 3 very clear and irrefutable confirmations to be able to move in that direction because it would be too confusing for me, I think That time we shared a specific case of someone from the Bible who went through something similar and received confirmation, but I don't remember it right now, what I can see is that Hosea based his faith on what God told him to do not in what he thought was right and this coincides with the passage in which we are encouraged to trust only in God and His word given personally to each of us, which I share here: 1 Kings 13
I have also known second marriages and so many cases that go beyond my “rational Biblical logic” but what I try to do is move as I feel that HE guides me in my heart in faith and I follow the advice of my earthly father who said to look at the fruits of others and not do the same thing that led them to spiritual failure. In my case, fortunately, He guided me to the truth before a divorce or remarriage, so I did not face the complex doubts that many face about their restoration, although I have wondered why from the beginning HE told me before I married that my husband will be my husband, someone non-believer, as if HE had already determined that I, being a believer, was going to marry a non-believer, this reminds me of the case of Samson, who, far from the advice of his parents, insisted on committing himself to a Philistine woman, which in the end turned out to be part of God's plan.
Throughout the years of ministry, I have realized that HE writes different life testimonies with the sole purpose of leading us to HIM and His love that supplies every need, many outside my logic since I have also known successful second marriages and so many others who do not know the Lord and are much sweeter and more loving than those who do know Him. He told us that in the new world, we will be like the Angels, that we will not be married, so what is important is our relationship with HIM, and as Paul said, we should not try to get married or divorced but rather remain in His love and dedicated to Him. HE, marriage is only a means to bring more children into the world to fulfill God's plan but it is not the purpose of our existence, He is the center and not us or our desires.
What my Beloved teaches me with this lesson is to make decisions based on love for HIM and my neighbor, thinking that what I do or plan to do will have an impact or will be a positive or negative influence on the people who see me. : “Therefore, let us no longer judge one another, but rather decide not to cause a stumbling block or occasion for our brother to fall.” R1413 It also teaches me not to judge because when I do I bring condemnation upon myself, and I expose myself to falling into the enemy's traps, since judging is born from pride and believing that we have the wisdom of God. I would like to finish with the following Bible passage, which gave much more light on this topic and led me to understand that it is not about giving ourselves a title as Christians or non-Christians, but rather about living a life based on a good conscience before God: Romans 2:2
Thank you for sharing precious Anastasia, I was for so long also a judge, judging the other women, where that was not even my place. I loved this Chapter. The moment I think of somebody doing something wrong I immediately tell myself You be the Judge?!? and of course I then have to say I can’t judge and besides that my own life was so very far from perfect, so I am not at all in any position to ever judge.
I completely agree with you Janine! I am in no way in a position to judge anyone because I am just as sinful as the rest of humanity. I think that thinking this way frees me from my exhausting perfectionism that leads me to moralism and perhaps brings me very close to becoming a religious or a Pharisee.
Thank you for sharing, Anastasia. 💕
If I were Hosea, I would have also needed more confirmation to ensure the message was from the Lord and not the enemy. It’s common for us to be oblivious to our own shortcomings while being overly aware of others’ flaws. This is illustrated in the saying, “Why do you notice the small speck of dust in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the large plank in your own eye?”
When we, as followers, express negative feelings toward others, we are presenting a distorted view of our Lord. It’s like we’re saying that He’s all about condemnation and judging people, which is a misrepresentation. Our Beloved is and was all about love, forgiveness, and being kind to everyone. If we want to follow in His footsteps, we need to try our best to do the same. Let’s not fall into the trap of condemning and judging others. It’s not what He would do.
cuando leí todo este testimonio encontré como si hubiese sido yo que lo escribí, hace algunos días también leí este capítulo SEREMOS COMO LOS ANGELES, y leí cada escenario y realmente creemos que somos jueces, si la biblia dice que con la misma vara que midamos seremos medidos.
Solo pido que el señor tenga misericordia.🙌🙏
When I read all this testimony I found as if it had been me who wrote it, a few days ago I also read this chapter WE WILL BE LIKE ANGELS, and I read each scenario and we really believe that we are judges, if the Bible says that with the same yardstick that we measure we will be measured. I just ask that the Lord have mercy.🙌🙏
I also used to overthink this subject because my fh was married before we got married. I got so tired of carrying this burden, looking at other situations, trying to dissect and compare it to what He says in His word. But eventually He told me to let it go because: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2055:8-9&version=NIV
And I cannot be the judge of others, not while I fall short myself: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=speck&version=NIV