Paul thought it was inconsequential that worldview people judged him. This daily devotional looks at how concerned we should be when being judged by others and how that affects our character.
Nuggets
- Disciples are not to judge others because that judgment does not promote a good character.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in The Character of One Who Fears God series
I haven’t done this in a long time. I am taking something from the drafts folder. I had all these things pulled in there, and I have used very few few of them.
This particular one is a sermon by Hannam’s The Happiness of Possessing a Conscience Void of Offence (sic). I liked this sermon because I think this is going to be a different way of looking at character.
Resource
Two things. It is ending up a series, and I am going to have to cut it abruptly. We’ll keep the connections and application for the next devotion.
Let's Put It into Context
We’ve talked about the fear of the Lord many times. In the Old Testament, the fear of the Lord means awe, reverence and love, not terror.
Glossary
It changed in the New Testament. Godliness, equated with the Old Testament term fear of the Lord, is reverence in thought, feeling, and conduct that is promoted by walking in His Spirit and obeying God’s laws and commandments to produce a moral likeness of God.
The moral likeness is our character. Our character is our thoughts, feelings, and actions all added together.
In other words, all of us is to be like God.
Earthly Judgment
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself” (I Cor. 4: 3 ESV)
Disciples are not to judge others because that judgment does not promote a good character.
Hannam wrote, “The Christian maketh but little account of man’s judgment (1 Corinthians 4:3).
Resource
I can read I Corinthians 4: 3 to go two different ways.
- Mankind cannot judge us because their standards are not God’s standards.
- Having the character of God should mean that we are meeting God’s laws and commandments and do not require judgment.
Both are true. The Family Churchman wrote in their sermon, Judgment, that “it [judgment] belongs not to men.”
Resource
Think about it this way. God hasn’t revealed everything to us. That means there are a lot of things we don’t know.
We can’t truly judge a situation because we don’t have all the relevant facts.
Another interesting thing the Family Churchman wrote in their sermon, Judgment, that “there is no universal and absolute standard.” Isn’t God’s laws and commandments universal and absolute?
I read the Family Churchman’s comment to mean what Lyth was explaining. There is a transient nature to earthly judgment.
Resources
Judging the Ministers
But Arnold took it a whole different way. I am going to have to process this one.
“Many are in the habit of reversing the apostle’s words; and what is most surprising is that great numbers who would be shocked at the thought are nevertheless really more governed by the opinions of men than by the Word of God. The truth is, the fear of man grows up with us from our infancy, is often encouraged by education, and is disguised under fair names, or mixed up with something allowable, so that we become enslaved to it without suspicion. Combined with this passages of Scripture are passed lightly over, which pronounce it to be a bad sign when all men speak well of us.”
Resources
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Character v. Reputation
We like being the most popular in school, the go-to person at work. We want to have a good reputation.
Reputation and character are two different things, but both are important. Reputation is who others think we are; character is who we really are.
God’s goodness keeps talking about moral character. It doesn’t say a word about reputation.
- God’s goodness is His holy, pure, and righteous behavior.
• Holy means to be set apart, perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
• Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
• Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Still, reputation is important. We must have credibility with those to whom we are witnessing.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
If we are not to judge others (Mt. 7: 1), we think worldview people are not to judge us. But face it, we know they do.
Worldview people especially judge ministers of Christ.
Smart thought this judgment should be expected — and was needed. He wrote, “Nor can there be any doubt about the right of men to judge the ministers of Christ. Ministers come to them professing to be commissioned from God, to deal with them about the concerns of their souls, and have they not a right to examine the truth of their statement, their qualifications for their work, and the manner in which they discharge the duties of their high office? That the right of judging ministers is often grossly abused cannot be denied. But this can never be assigned as a reason why they should be deprived of it altogether.”
Resource
Father God. It is so easy to judge others. Yet, we hate it when others judge us. Help us to keep focused on You so that our character imitates Yours. Amen.
What do you think?
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