Why We Should Always Choose Grace Over Judgment

Everything I’ve judged I’ve become. You know that scripture that says, “Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” It’s in Matthew 7:1-2 and it’s TRUE! 

The first time I realized the impact of this verse I was in college. I remember VIVIDLY and HARSHLY judging this family that would show up to church over an hour late every Sunday. I could not understand why they were consistently THAT late.

I never found out why they were always late, but the Tuesday after I made some pretty brutal judgments in my mind about them, I was late to every single thing in my schedule. At the time, I was a full time student plus working 5 part time jobs so being late to one thing snowballed me into lateness in every other thing, all day. And it happened every day until Sunday came around. That family was, of course, walking into service over an hour late again and I heard very clearly, “don’t judge them, you were late ALL WEEK.” 

You would think I would have learned right then to never judge another human for anything else, but of course, I didn’t. I’ve gone on this “judge not” journey many times for multiple reasons and in multiple seasons. And now that I’ve had so much time to learn from experience, I’ve finally developed a little “check” in my spirit right as I’m about to think something judgy. 

So why am I even telling you this? To hopefully save you the heartache and exhaustion from riding a roller coaster you didn’t mean to buy a ticket to. It’s so easy today especially with the internet, to judge everything we see, even about people we will never meet in real life!

But our job is not to judge and we don’t know anyone’s full story. So instead, let’s practice grace. We want grace in our life and to cover our own faults, right? So if we practice that with other people, we’re more likely to get it back. And as an added bonus – we’re going to be happier and less burdened when we stop worrying about other people and why they do the things they do. Let’s lighten our hearts together! 

Kristen James

Morning Show Host, STAR 99.1