Judging Ourselves Forestalls God's Judgement

UV 4165/10000 Judging Ourselves Forestalls God’s Judgement But if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly ( recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our behaviour), we would not be judged. I Corinthians 11 v 31 Instead of falling under judgement of God, it is wise for us to judge ourselves. At the same time, we ought not to judge others as it is the prerogative of God. We cannot arrogate to ourselves the power or right to judge others. We are to look at others with mercy and grace and consider ourselves severely. The yardstick we used hitherto to judge others we need to change its direction towards our own selves. Each of us have different kinds of shortcomings or weaknesses. Some of it are supportive weaknesses like the little finger enables the other bigger fingers to form a strong fist or to get a good grip. Some are manageable weaknesses which we can regulate. Some are absolute negative weaknesse that have the potential to destroy our souls, minds or bodies or any of these, for example, an addiction to liquor, pornography and so on. We need to recognize these early enough and pray for grace or power to overcome these deadly shortcomings. Some weaknesses are temperamental or emotional weaknesses like the tendency to fly into a violent temper with even a small provocation. These need to be combatted and overcome with the help of the Holy Spirit, with much prayer and even fasting. Some weaknesses might be a morbid level of fear or anxiety. Again, we need to get the help of Ebenezer, the God who not only accompanies us but helps us on a continual basis. There are apparently two stages in our fight against our own inner weaknesses- first, we need to be aware or recognize our weaknesses, our failings, our flaws. Second, we need to take corrective steps or measures to avoid, reduce, overcome the weaknesses. The uni-verse tells us that we need not be ashamed of our weaknesses or ignore it but be fully aware, own it, take responsibility for dealing with it, get help of the Lord and overcome it, reduce it, avoid it, turn it into a source of strength. Jesus asks us to be ruthless with the absolutely negative weaknesses like lust for He says, “If your left hand causes you to sin, cut it off.. If your right eye causes you to sin, it is better to gouge it out.” We are to chip away regularly at the beam in our own eye that keeps our vision blocked, keeps us from realizing our God-given potential, use our abilities or resources effectively. The beam of light the Lord flashes into our blinded eyes removes the beam that blocks our vision and enables us to see our own weaknesses as one of the above categories. He, then, gives us the grace to overcome each weakness or use it as a support for our strengths. Weakness is part of human nature and the power to overcome comes from God. Weakness is even needed to understand that we are frail, vulnerable humans in need of supernatural help. It is needed to keep us humble and dependent on the Lord. In fact, even our strengths can turn into a source of weakness when we over rely on it, over leverage or gloat on it.