“Who dares accuse (one) God has chosen.” Romans 8:33 NLT
“Be charitable in your opinions and kind in your judgments.”
My thoughts today are about “opinions and judgments.”
It is easy to misjudge someone. You can so easily misunderstand what another person has said or is reported to have said, or misinterpret what a person has done or been accused of doing, or mistake someone’s motive – presuming that you know what another person was thinking or intending. But do you, really?
Doing so often leads to misjudgments of one another. And what if you are wrong about them? Can you be all that sure of what your own motivations are much of the time? See Jeremiah 17:9. How could you possibly be so sure and certain of someone else’s? The Bible provides this caution, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way that you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2 NIV. That should give anyone pause.
A friend taught me a practical way to differentiate between having an opinion and making a judgment. Those may seem very similar, but they are worlds apart. I wish I could say that I have learned the principle well and practice it better, but I still live in what my friend, Campbell, described as “the biggest room in the world – the room for improvement.”
Opinions are plenteous, even unavoidable. Everybody has them; some people seem to have too many of them for others’ good – and many of the ones they have are frequently incorrect. People may have an opinion about anything, matters that are their business and things that are not. That’s where the danger comes of holding strong opinions. Opinions are often nothing more than an individual’s likes and dislikes, their preferences and prejudices, as much unexplainable whim as any firm reason. Don’t confuse your subjective opinion with an accurate, objective judgment.
This matter of judgments is more serious. There are judgments that should be made, and must be made, but those should be left to those who have been given the authority and responsibility to make them. Ask yourself this question when tempted to pass judgment on someone or something: “Is this my God-given responsibility and authority?”
The principle is this simple and practical; if you don’t have the proper, recognized responsibility, be assured you have not been given rightful authority. You can’t judge where you don’t rule. “Each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us stop passing judging on one another . . God alone, who made the Law, can rightly judge among us.” Read Romans 14:4/10-13 NIV/James 4:11-12 NLT/ See Psalm 9:8 NLT.
You will be much happier and have far better relationships if you learn to recognize what is best left to others, and give better care for the things that are yours. Be charitable in your opinions and kind in your judgments. You don’t ever know all there is to know; don’t be so sure of what you do.
My prayer for you today is: do not mistake your opinions for God’s judgments.