Judging others at their worst

One of the most difficult things to do is to forgive others.

I'm not speaking of shrugging our shoulders and disregarding their wrong actions.

I'm talking about truly forgiving them.

When we think of how others have wronged us in the past, its easy to place them under judgment.

Instead of our focus being on their few sins against us, we can condemn them in their entirety.

We can view them as simply being bad people, undeserving of any form of redemption.

They don't even need to sin against us.

They can sin against someone else.

They can sin in lifestyles, beliefs, or generalities - ways that don't necessarily impact us personally, but instead impact what we see as society as a whole.

Many times, we don't even need to witness the sins in question.

We can simply hear about a sin they're guilty of through others.

We can hear it through gossip, rumors, social media, or many other sources.

But before we begin to judge others, we need to ask ourselves a question:

 - Have we ever been guilty of sinning against others?

 - Have we ever been guilty of sinning in our lifestyles, beliefs, or generalities?

Of course we have.

Maybe not to the extent others have, but also to more of an extent than others.

The apostle John wrote:

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us." 1 John 1:8-10

In recent years, we've seen an enormous uptick it what I'd consider judgment from the masses.

People are cancelled.

People are doxxed. 

People have their entire lives and careers destroyed - often by others they've never met.

What if someone judged your entire existence based upon one horrible decision you've made?

What if they decided to choose the worst thing you've ever done, and judged your entire character - your entire worth as a human being based upon it?

But we tend to lean that direction when it comes to the sins of others, don't we?

I'm not talking about using rational judgment when it comes to who we'd prefer to stay clear of.

There will never be a shortage of very dangerous people in this world.

That's just common sense.

What I'm speaking of is a general rush to condemn others we believe have committed worse sins than ours, or more of them. 

There's one major problem with this approach. 

We're all sinners.

Every last one of us. 

Believing we're better than others in this regard is the height of hypocrisy.

In Ephesians, Paul wrote:

"For by grace you are saved through faith. And this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10

We're not saved due to our own good works.

How, then, can we feel justified in condemning others for acts we consider "less good?"

We simply can't. 

If anyone sins against us, the healthiest thing we can do is to forgive them and move on.

Doing so protects us from harboring anger and resentment. 

A very wise man once compared holding onto these feelings to drinking poison, hoping the other person will die. 

The Lord's Prayer says "...forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us."

Just as it's true about the Lord forgiving us, forgiving others is a daily occurrence. 

It's also one that will bring more peace into the lives of everyone involved.

Couldn't we all use a little more peace in our lives?