judgment – Haston Helping Hands

Dear Readers,

As I was preparing for the “First Monday Night Prayer” which is a night our church family shares in community, food, and prayer I got to thinking about labels.

Somewhere along the road, I decided that being a Christian meant that you had to quote the bible all the time and it “looked” a certain way. I am delighted to find that life is full of so much more gray than that.

Take me for instance, I have many hats. I am a speaker, a manager, a coach, and an actor and a singer. Those are just a few. I am also a sister, an aunt, and hopefully one day, Mom. This singing that I did for the church is as a direct result of my performance history and my wanting show my love for God. This post is not so much about that as the realization that you don’t have to accept the label that people give you especially when its a negative one.

Statement- Oh, she is a Christian- so she is righteous and religious and judges me.

No, I am a Christian, who believes in God, and is here to serve others and more importantly to meet YOU where YOU are. No judging here.

Statement- Oh she is an actor- so she is flighty and undependable

No, I am an actor which means I show up on time ( to fight that stereotype ) and am dedicated to my craft and work harder than anyone you have ever seen to bring a character to life.

So what is the point in all this you ask? Simple, you are the only one who puts limits on who YOU really are. A wealth of things await you in this life, all you have to do is be brave enough to call yourself what you are and own it.

This quote from Zen Pencils (you should really check this stuff out its inspiring) really landed on me.. especially because this is one of my favourite quotes by Marianne Williamson-

http://zenpencils.com/comic/65-marianne-williamson-our-deepest-fear/

“our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate….. our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure”

It was scary for me to sing for God, mostly because I have never done it before, but shining my “light” in that way made me feel really good and I hope it helped someone else see, “Hey, I could do that, too!”

Think about It….

Matthew 7:1, “Judge not that ye be not judged.

First of all, according to my quick google study, this is one of the most misquoted bible verses ever, most people think its “Judge not, lest ye be judged” but its really, “Judge not that ye be not judged” so if you really think about it, it is saying don’t judge others and then you yourself can be assured of not being judged. Ah, if only it were really true.

It is really not like me to post a blog with a bible verse but I have gotten to thinking a lot about judgment (pause as I double check the spelling) because I have been doing a lot of it. Nothing overt, nothing that would really get me into trouble per se, but making up my mind about a situation before I knew all the facts and if I had just waited a few minutes, hours or days things would have been made clear to me. I am not deliberately being obtuse, the details of what I am describing are personal and I don’t plan to share them. Just focus on you for now. If you need an example, how about the panhandler on the side of the road at the red light, do you look at him/her and think, you look able-bodied, why don’t you get a job? Or do you think about the suffering they must be going through and how hard it is to ask for help? Now let’s take it to a more personal level, do judge your friends by the house they have, the car they drive or their seemingly “well off” lifestyle or do you think about it as just another aspect of who they are which is part and parcel of your friendship?

I am not saying one or the other is right, I am just asking you to think about it!

Tag: judgment

Your title is not what defines you, you define you

Judge me not, lest ye be judged