Treat me right…. please.
Man! I wish it was this easy.
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Proverbs 16:2 ESV
In other words, you might think you are justified in your actions but God knows your motives.
In a time where people are scrutinized for their decisions all day long this little verse brings with it some sense of justice and peace.
We watch the news and see politicians get reamed for their choices. Local government officials are judged not by outcomes but by proposals of intent. Neighbors are looked down on for whatever affronts they are causing you. Your boss earns your condemnation whenever he says something to you that you don’t like. And let’s not forget what your saying about your spouse behind their back.
In all of these situations we are judging the intent of a man. This is a hard thing not to do, isn’t it? I know that I have sinned (wronged) against people a multiple of times by doing this. Bottom line is this. I cannot know the intent of some one’s heart, only God does. Whenever I allow my anger to rise up I buy back into that old way of thinking as in, “I can’t believe they are doing this to me!?” I haven’t even seen the outcome of the decision but I am quick to get all hostile about it. I am pathetic…
Here’s why I refuse to keep sucking at this. God says,
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;” Luke6:37 ESV
I mean all through the scripture we get the same warning. Don’t do it unless you want the same set of standards placed on you. You see, that’s where it gets me every time. God tells me in that little voice in my head, “Do you really want me holding you to the same set of ridiculous standards you hold everyone else?” And I’m like, “Um , nope.” So then I am off and asking for forgiveness….. Again…
At the end of the day God knows the intent of men. We can’t hide it from Him. There is also a sense of peace that comes with this. When you believe that God is truly sovereign (I mean that He is in control of everything and we will be discussing what you think is free will in the future) that everything works for and according to His purposes. You will also find that fact a couple of more times in the same chapter 16 of Proverbs where we find that verse at the top of the page.
Must be a reason why God had it written that way. Probably to get us to stop being a cry baby about perceived wrongs because He might have even wanted it that way. DOH! Now how’s that make you feel? Yep, there’s something to be said about being slow to anger…
August 30th, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Wow, this really hits home for me right now. I don’t know if I’m wrong or right. I am at the point in my spiritual walk with God, that I’m noticing or recognizing immediate conviction about things when I’m wrong. Currently I have no conviction about the way I’ve recently handled myself in a particular situation. Granted, in this situation, I did not get ugly, nasty, or anything like that, but I was finally fully and totally honest with someone (which they couldn’t believe or handle) about how I felt about things they were doing. The situation was and is still happening in front of my children. I basically said that I would not allow them to be in the middle of anyone’s mess, & I would not allow them to get hurt (emotionally) due to poor decision making. So did I judge them? Well, I guess in a way, I felt I had to because my children are being affected by the circumstances. I’m trying to raise them with Biblical training & instruction and then they are being dragged into very nasty & anything but Godly situations. Very difficult place for me to be and especially for them to be. As a mother, what was I to do? Do I just not judge at all and let it go or do I finally put my foot down & say this is not right & God doesn’t want children in the middle of this. I felt obligated & convicted to do something as opposed to not. The other party said I was judging them. They said I was acting like I was better. I expressed that I was not better, that I was judging the situation because of the children. That I didn’t want my children to be hurt or totally confused about what was happening & how they should conduct themselves in a similar situation. I wanted the other party to know I was not in any way better than them, but that I am in a different place & trying to teach the kids about Godly character traits, Godly attitude, Godly conduct, so they don’t grow up struggling because they weren’t taught how have a relationship with God. My children are already displaying their confusion about things. I am teaching them one way, then elsewhere they are being shown that all the things God says we shouldn’t do are being done. Then they are told more or less, “Do as I say, not as I do”. Totally uncool!
Again sorry about the long novel!
Point is, I normally try not to judge, not to hold someone to some standards, and even tell them what I’m learning & things they can read on particular topics. I try so hard to be obedient, even when I’m getting spit on, yelled at, cursed at, everything but punched in the face. I don’t speak ill of the person to the children, don’t get me wrong, I have my moments in private where I tell God how angry I am, but pray that I don’t sin in my anger. I’ve been asking God over the last few days to reveal to me if I’m wrong because I told him that I forgive, but don’t forget, and after years of abuse, I wash my hands of this person because I know now it’s not MY job to help them or fix them. I told God that the person is His to fix or change or help. That I will not listen to anything they have to say to me unless it’s necessary discussion. I am not allowing this person to hurt me or my children ever again. But….your last statement, “Yep, there’s something to be said about being slow to anger…”, I agree totally because I think maybe that’s why it has come up so much lately because I’ve been praying to remove anger from my heart. That I want to be slow to anger and not quick. I must need to learn how to word my prayers better (lol) because I don’t want more of the situations, I want to learn to deal with what I already have on my plate.