For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword…it exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)
Everyone has experienced the judgement fence. On one side, we’ve felt judged, and on the other, we’ve judged people too. We’ve all been trained in varying degrees to judge others. We question why someone acts a certain way or why they did something to us.
Now, there are times when we should judge others. If you’re in business or leadership, it’s wise to judge potential employees’ track records or follow your gut feeling. There’s a time and place for judging someone’s actions; however, you don’t know someone’s heart—their motives and intentions. When you get into the habit of judging others’ hearts, you will introduce a level of continual, needless suffering into your life.
As we make assumptions and form judgements about those around us, we might think we’re spiritually profound. But the Bible doesn’t say God’s going to give you an introspective look into someone else’s heart to reveal their motives or intentions. Only God knows what’s in someone’s heart—including your own! (See Hebrews 4:13.)
So, how can we move past judging others’ hearts? As you spend time in God’s Word, today’s verse says it begins to deal with your deepest thoughts and intentions. His Word works to clean up your misbeliefs and reveal the truth to you, helping you to exercise caution in your judgements and thinking.
Back away from judging people’s intentions and motives, along with the anger, insecurity and hurt that accompanies that type of thinking. Instead, ask Holy Spirit to help you see people through God’s eyes—as incredibly precious, deeply loved souls that want acceptance. Just like you!