Sunday Jan 19, 2014

yeo so today's sermon was actually pretty cool. I got a lot from the sermon actually. I think it spoke to a lot of us personally because judging people is a sin we all fall victim to. Sometimes it's really hard not to judge people, and for me especially because I'm not the kindest person to start with. When you see some people doing dumb stuff, sometimes i even find it hard to see their value as a human being. Terrible I know, but in my mind, i vilify people, put them down, see them for less than they are. But it's been mentioned many times, many ways, that judging other people is one of the worst things because it fuels our own pride. As a Christian who professes to have laid down his pride and dignity for God, I don't have any authority to judge people, yet I find myself constantly judging others. Another thing this sermon reminded me of was pity. Pity is closely related to judgement because you can't really pity without judging for yourself that whoever deserves pity. One of the bible study teachers I had a while ago mentioned that pity is a thing of the devil because we have no place in saying that we are better off and that person. Bear with my rambling and stuff but I think it's also interesting to see the parallels between judging and rebuking, and pitying and having compassion. Outwardly, it may look similar, but I think it's important to think about where your heart is when you are doing any of those things. Like Sam said today, judgement comes from a heart of hate and intervention/rebuking comes from a heart of love. Just made me think and reflect about how I'm leading my own life in terms of that. so ye

This sermon actually spoke to me so personally, I really liked it and loved how God humbled me through Sam's last minute sermon switch-up. I'm just so quick to judge people especially at school, and when I see them sin I feel disgusted, but after hearing the sermon I felt conviction right when Sam mentioned that who are we to judge others when we are no better than them? At that moment I just reflected on the things I've done and how I've wronged many people and honestly it just brought me to tears. How could I go and judge others and ridicule them in my head when I commit those same sins? I just felt like the greatest hypocrite in the world. How do I justify looking at someone's sin in disgust when I do those exact same things and do not realize it? Instead of judging others we have to approach them in love to help one another instead of putting one another down. Another point Sam made was that we need to learn how to truly forgive others and how to ask for forgiveness from those we have wronged. While we tend to hold grudges and dark memories of those sins in our heads and hearts, we take far too long (if at all) to forgive people. Truly forgiving someone is completely letting it go, erasing it from your mind, and it can only be done through the Holy Spirit. God definitely humbled me and spoke to me personally through today's message, and I am so thankful of that. I need to make things right with those I have wronged and those who have wronged me, and I have to remind myself that I am in no position to judge others, rather I should help them as a brother in Christ with love.