The scriptures often remind us not to judge others. There are some very good reasons for this. The human mind and spirit are so complex and so elusive, that only our Creator can know us completely. Each of us is so different, with distinct motives, having experienced such varied life circumstances and affected by diverse hardships and difficulties through life. You and I will never know the influences that have gone into making another person’s personality what it is today.
This is why it is impossible for us to accurately judge another person. The story about the wheat and the weeds in scripture makes that point exactly. The owner planted good wheat seed but somehow weeds grew among them. If the reapers had had their way, they would have tried to tear out the weeds and they would have torn out the wheat as well. It teaches us not to be so quick with our judgments. The decision had to wait until the harvest came.
The heartening message for me in this story is that in the end we will be judged, not by any single act or stage in our life, but by our whole life. Judgment cannot come until the end. A person may make a grave mistake and then redeem himself. Then he may, by the grace of God, make amends for it by staying on the right track for the rest of his life. When we see only part of something we really can’t judge the whole thing. If we only know part of someone’s life, we really don’t know the whole person.
On the other hand God has made each of us and knows us fully and completely. So it is a good idea to leave it to God to unravel the mystery of someone else...and be open to letting God help us understand them better.
“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.” --1 Corinthians 4:5
Love,
Andrew+