Thoughts for the Day

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Jesus calls us not to judge people! This is a quote that is often thrown at Christians when we're being critical about others and is frequently used by those who know nothing about Jesus and his teaching. But four verses later Jesus says we should know people by their fruit - by the way that they act and live their lives. To do this we must make some kind of decision about them. This is not about judging those who deliberately start a war, that judgement should be left to God. This is about the minor judgements we make about those around us each day.

Our Lord says we shall be judged in the same way that we judge others. Often we make judgements about others but don't really know enough about them and their difficulties. Sometimes we judge them on one isolated incident, or we're harsher on them than we would be on ourselves. Even worse is when we pass to others a judgement we have made about another person. The question is, would we be wanting God to judge us in the same way that we judge other people?

Jesus calls us to be merciful, as God is merciful to us. If we think back over our own life and the mistakes as well as our deliberate sins, we should remember that God has forgiven us. We know how merciful our Heavenly Father has been to us. Can we be especially merciful to other people this Lent?

Lord Jesus Christ,
You call us not to judge others,
and warn us that we will be judged in return.
You call us to be merciful
as our Heavenly Father is merciful to us.
Help us never to forget this,
especially as we try to live a Holy Lent.
Amen.