Our pastor wasn’t pleased that his newspaper had been arriving late each morning—for two weeks. So he impatiently stood at his front door, ready to verbally pounce on the newspaper deliveryman and unleash his anger over the tardy papers. Before he did, however, he thought better of it. Instead, he asked, “How’s it going, Tom?” When he did, he found out that Tom’s house had burned to the ground two weeks before. He and his family were homeless. Tom had recently picked up extra work on a local farm to earn more money. Now he had to wake up even earlier than usual. It had been the worst two weeks of his life.
Needless to say, my pastor was humbled. He told us he had thought he had Tom all figured out as a lazy, thoughtless person. He was wrong.
This reminds me of another time people jumped to conclusions. In Luke 13:1-4, Jesus told his listeners that those murdered by Pilate in the temple and the eighteen who died when a tower in Siloam crushed them didn’t suffer because they were worse sinners than anyone else.
Back then (and sometimes today) people believed that suffering always resulted from people’s sins. In other words, they brought it on themselves. So whenever something bad happened to others, people thought they had it all figured out: Someone must have sinned. That’s why Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” (John 9:2). But Jesus replied, “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins” (John 9:3).
It’s dangerous to label others and think we have them figured out. Instead, may we pray and ask God to help us extend His grace to those we’re struggling with—realizing we can’t know it all.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: John 1:19-34
More:
Read Job 42:7-9 to see how God was angry with Job’s friends for thinking they had Him figured out and how Job responded to them with grace.
Next:
When have you been dead wrong about others and their circumstances? What lessons can you learn moving forward? How should God’s grace help us view others?
Gary Shultz on June 16, 2017 at 5:29 am
Hi Marlena: Yes, profiling, as we like to call it, is a dangerous thing. One of the dangers is, sometimes we are correct so we begin to build on that platform and then like in today’s story we get it wrong. Much hurt can be done by our uncautious thoughts and actions. Could you imagine how Tom would have perceived the pastor if he would have unleashed an attack about a lousy paper? God knew what He was talking about when He said, He see peoples hearts we just see the outside. It is a badly ingrained habit to judge others. Age has helped to curve that urge, by being surprised often. It can go either way good or bad because we judge like the disciples did, by the outward. Even if we are getting it close most of the time, we must allow the unpacking process if we are to be an influence, a witness of God’s grace. We must begin to see people as God see them, looking past what we see to what is held in the heart. Thanks Marlena
Marlena Graves on June 16, 2017 at 10:55 pm
Absolutely, I don’t know that Tom was a Christian and it would’ve been horrendous had the pastor unleashed his fury upon him. I often ponder the full extent of what Jesus meant in Matthew 7 when he said, “Judge not lest thou be judged.” I learned it in the KJV :).
godlove on June 16, 2017 at 6:33 am
Thank you Marlena, I needed this at this time. For me, it’s not even about jumping to conclusions about others, as I have learnt to show empathy towards others and I make it a habit to always try to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. The bigger problem I face is with myself, and thinking I have figured out all about how God views me. Almost every time something not nice happens to me, I tend to think I brought it upon myself and think back to the last sin I committed, wondering whether God allowed it to happen as a way of chastising me for my sin. Likewise, almost each time I’m convicted by the Holy Spirit of sin, after confessing and begging for forgiveness, I immediately worry about whether God will allow some sort of punishment to come my way for it. I understand God’s grace but I still seem to wrestle with accepting the idea that it applies to me at all times, and His grace is unconditional. I pray that we may grow spiritually and get to the level of faith where we live rejoicing in His grace and mercy all the time (and also sharing it around us).
sandy229 on June 16, 2017 at 10:27 am
I know how you feel godlove, I am the same way sometimes. Something happens to me, and I try to think what I did to deserve this, what sin did I commit that this should happen to me? Sometimes we feel the consequences of our sin, but God is not doing it because of the sin. Other times God allows something to happen to us to bring us closer to Him. That’s great that you can show empathy to others. Not everyone can do that, but you have made it a Holy habit to empathize, and now it’s grounded in your heart to do so that it just becomes natural for you.
Shalom
Marlena Graves on June 16, 2017 at 11:02 pm
Yes, isn’t it true that we sometimes extend more grace to others than we do ourselves? I often read through or listen to the gospels and pay close attention to how Jesus reacts to people and situations. And especially to the passage in today’s devotional. Jesus’s audience was much more harsh and critical than he was. The audience thought that those who suffered got what they deserved, and Jesus said, “Hold on, not so fast.” Seeing Jesus response and the response of other gracious Christians helps me think about how God does respond to me. Also, I often go to Luke 23 where Jesus is between the two thieves. He doesn’t excoriate the bad thief. He doesn’t even respond. But see how gracious he is to the good thief, as the church throughout the ages has called him. I often meditate on that and that Jesus, even in death, was thinking of others and gracious. That is how he is with you and me.
sandy229 on June 16, 2017 at 10:21 am
Hi Marlena. I think sometimes we see others as “guilty by association”, We assume they are like the ones they hang out with when we have no clue what the circumstances are. “Well he must be guilty because his friends are”. Jesus hung out with sinners, and he was judged also. We should never make assumptions about people when we don’t know the whole story. I have been guilty of that, saying “an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” when I assume someone is guilty just because his family was. I have since learned not to do that. I think when we get older we learn a lot of things we wish we knew when we were younger. God has shown me that if I live according to His ways, I can avoid situations like this. I can’t think of any specific time when this happened, but I know I have done this in the past. Thank God for His mercy, and how we can extend His mercy to others instead of judging them. Thank you for this timely message Marlena.
Marlena Graves on June 16, 2017 at 11:04 pm
Sandy, what magnificent points you have made. I have learned. Blessings.
don777 on June 16, 2017 at 10:33 am
1 Peter 4:12-13 (NKJV) 12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
Life is an exercise. ether we are going into a trial or out of a trial. There are trials of different types of pain and trials of still waters & green pastures. What I mean by this is are we going to draw near to God whether there is pain in our life or every thing is smooth sailing. Seems to me it is easy to be on your knees when there is pain. When every thing is going good it is easy to not depend upon God as much. We start drifting. (dangerous) Remember we have a choice on the relationship we have with God. every day. +>i