We human beings usually are so quick to point the finger at someone, judge him or her according to our standards of good behaviour and when we judge them we condemn them.

However, before we make a judgment, we should read in the Gospels what Jesus had to say and how He behaved in His private intimate relationship with His Father and His dealings with people. See Luke 6:36-37King James Version (KJV) 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

First of all Jesus made it very clear, He said, “do not judge so as not to be judged”.  People tend to judge by what they see, but usually they overlook the fact that nine times out of ten, they don’t have the whole facts at their disposal, so they judge according to their own values and according to appearances.  That is very dangerous!  Let us instead refrain from doing so, and instead be merciful as Jesus is merciful towards sinners.

We all need a doctor “Jesus Christ”.  We all need to be cleansed and purified.  As Jesus says if anyone says he has not sinned, he calls God a liar. See 1 John 1:10King James Version (KJV) 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  If we look at our lives, none of us can even pick up a stone let alone consider throwing it at a sinner even though that person may be a murderer or adulterer.

As Jesus says quite clearly in this text in John 8:7 King James Version (KJV) 7 He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

When we read that verse and think about it deeply and meditate on what it implies, we should realize that we have to be careful not to fall into the devil’s trap of being the world’s judge, but instead we should pray, pray unceasingly for sinners to repent of their ways, turn back to God, and be covered with Jesus’s Precious Blood and live for Him.

If the Holy Spirit prompts us to help a person turn away from sin, then we must do so with gentleness and love, and it is different from judging because judging is done in self-righteousness. Helping a person usually happens when we no longer have that particular sin.

Jesus has to become Lord and Master of our lives in all ways.  We need to pray that we are more and more merciful in our dealings with people.  Jesus is love and mercy shown in total perfection – in other words we should model our lives on Jesus Christ.

If we have failed to do so in the past, let us pray and repent of our many sins and ask God for His love, mercy and forgiveness and ask Him to heal us and cleanse and purify us of all decay, and if we can, try to ask forgiveness from those we have hurt as well.

We have to imitate God and be kind, compassionate and merciful as seen in Psalm 145:8 King James Version (KJV) 8 The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

We need to pray unceasingly to God for a change of attitude towards people for He is the Lord and Saviour of your life and only He can change you by His Holy Spirit, for He is the creator and the potter.  We are the clay, and He can mould us into the people he wants us to be, holy and spotless without the stain of sin in our lives and we can truly love Him with all our hearts, souls and spirits and love our neighbour as Jesus loves us.  We should love others as we would like them to love us as seen in Luke 6:31 King James Version (KJV) 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Please see our prayer.

Sweet Jesus,

Help me to love you with all my heart and serve and worship you and love others.

Please help me to be always kind and compassionate towards others.

Help me never to judge, but help me to be truly merciful and loving, as you are love and mercy itself.

Help me to live my life as a prayer of adoration for you, serving your people with love and respect and worshipping you saying, “Amen! Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever! Amen.” (See Revelations 7: 12)

Written by Dominic and Marie-Helene Bradshaw

e-mail [email protected]