Thoughts for the Day

Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. For it is written,

'As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.'

Let us therefore no longer pass judgement on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another.'

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Whether we watch BBC, or ITV, or social media we are all subject to a barrage of critical reviews by newsreaders, politicians, ordinary people, and 'Uncle Tom Cobley and All', or we might set et al, ie everyone under the sun. People are criticised for what they wear, what they look like, what they think, what they believe and for many of their actions. Indeed they can be criticised for doing or not doing the same thing, and for everything that disagrees with the person or group they represent. People are often praised for their actions, only to find a few months down the line they are being pulled off their pedestal and criticised.

Even if we refrain from speaking critically, we too can be critical in our thinking. In the passage above from Paul's letter to the Romans he is actually speaking about not criticising others for the food they eat, that is for those gentiles who eat food forbidden to Hebrews. But his point is still valid today. We should not be critical or despise others, in our thinking or in our speech. We should not pass judgement on others for one day we shall all stand before the judgement seat of God.

Join me in trying not to criticise others in thought, word, or deed this day?

Heavenly Father,
You give us critical faculties,
but help us to turn these faculties
upon ourselves.
May we acknowledge our faults
in thinking, speaking or indeed
acting critically concerning others,
and instead accept the differences
among us,
and welcome the diversity.
Amen.