“For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

My grandfather was a judge. He gained recognition when he was assigned to a San Francisco Municipal Court and set a record by hearing 140 cases in his first day. I can only imagine what he must have felt like driving home that night. Exhausted, depleted, a sinking feeling of sadness about humanity, or perhaps a small sense of pride that he was sometimes able to help even just one person that day. Maybe he came across someone who did something bad, but was a good person, begging for an opportunity to make it right. From the stories I have heard of his legacy, he was a judge who yearned for the chance to bail someone out who was down on his luck, or made some mistakes but was truly remorseful and just needed forgiveness and someone to give them grace and another chance. While he was firm and just, he also sought to make a difference in peoples lives and see the good in them. Every story I’ve heard has been one of his fairness, kind heart and ability to turn a crime into a teachable moment.

It would be no small task to sit in this seat of judgement to others. Deciding their fate. Who wins, who loses. Who dodges a bullet today and goes home with a slap on the wrist. Who pays the price and gets the book thrown at them. I often wonder what it would have been like to sit in his powerful position.

The majority of us have not been appointed to such a position. Yet, we walk around with a self given authority to sit in that seat among our peers on the daily. We may not be making judgement calls that seal the fate of someone’s life path, but we sure as hell have an impact on them, sometimes even more detrimental to their well being than any court could hand out.

As we all have seen over the past several weeks, things are getting sticky on social media and the news. This comes as no surprise, as we have been faced with this for many years since we have had the world at our fingertips. I started to really notice it when the last election came about. I couldn’t believe the words people were slinging at each other over their difference of opinion. Often, people would speak to strangers in the ugliest of ways because they could hide behind their screens and never be known to their victim. As of late, with Covid-19 being at the forefront of our minds, and information coming at us like a firing squad, we seem to be at an all time high of mud slinging to one another. Fear has gripped us, we don’t know what information is the truth, our economy is sinking and we are all uncertain of our futures. This has driven many people into hysteria and confusion, but also one where we feel WE are the ones with the right answers. OUR news articles are the accurate ones. OUR opinions are the truth…ones that everyone needs to get on board with, or else. The judgement towards one another for choosing what it best for their family, in this time of crisis, is staggering.

I’ve been laughed at for wearing a mask to the store. I’ve been yelled at for not wearing a mask into the store. I’ve been told we need to get back to work and not let our constitutional rights be stripped away. I’ve been told it is irresponsible to get back to work and put myself and others at risk for their lives. Its a crap shoot, folks. One that every single on of us have experienced in this fragile time. None of us have the answers. Yet, we seemingly think we do, not only for ourselves, but for everyone else, and by gosh, we are going to make that known!

Here’s the deal though….not one of us on this earth has it 100% right. Not about the ‘Rona, not politically, not about parenting, marriage, dating, grieving, finances, and even faith. But I do know that there is one who does. His name is God and last I checked, He was very clear about being the only one. As we are busy throwing daggers in the comment section to cousin Tom in Oregon or a friend of a friends sisters mom in Pennsylvania, God is busy with the real details. He is listening to every prayer, healing the sick, comforting the dying, weeping with the grieving, shaking his head at the righteous…

I heard the absolute best quote from a sermon I was listening to online today. The pastor said “God exalts the humble and opposes the proud. He did not give us the authority to decide who is doing it right, who is doing it wrong or who is a better Christian because of it. We are not fruit inspectors. If you want to inspect fruit, inspect your own.” THIS! Amen and all of the yesses to this.

1 Samuel 16:7 says “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we bear (or strive to) the fruits of the spirit. When we sit in the judgement seat of who is doing life right or wrong, we become fruit inspectors. So many people seek to cast stones on the ones they love under the umbrella of care and concern, because they are the bearers of “truth”. Sometimes it genuinely comes from a place of love, with gentle words, encouragement, a close bond and a lot of prayer. But often times, it is with self righteousness and self idolatry…the kind where we feel the need to point out the speck in someone else’s eye all while our vision is clouded by the log in our own.

Speaking from my own experiences, I have had a few harsh critics who have weighed in on my life and choices since the death of my husband. I have chosen to date again since Scott passed. I did this earlier (and more often) than what might have been comfortable for someone else in a similar situation, and possibly later than another. I haven’t felt the need to explain this to the critics, because it would be IMPOSSIBLE for them to understand. That, and conveniently, they haven’t asked for the “why”. They haven’t sought to understand. The people who have stood in my corner and walked side by side with me throughout this manically emotional journey have asked the hard questions, challenged me to ask them to myself, prayed for me and with me, showed up on my doorstep on the hard nights, built trust with me by being intentional with their listening and have down right BREATHED LIFE BACK INTO ME. The righteous who speak their own truth, pretending to be free from sin, while casting the biggest stones of all? Yeah, hard pass on those folks. If we want to reach people, we need to mirror Jesus. We also need to remember how often we fall short of His glory.

Here’s something we should know about our inheritance in Heaven…                                WE DON’T DESERVE IT! We don’t deserve Gods grace, mercy, forgiveness. Yet He gives it to us anyway! He is the ultimate judge, jury and fruit inspector, and is the ONLY one who has been sworn in to that seat. He sees our sin, our weaknesses, our flaws, our casting of stones. He is firm, he gives consequences when we need them, yet he is the most loving father. The one who cares not just about what we have done or not done, but one who cares about our hearts. Our intentions. He is the one who has been appointed to hand down our sentence and instead he sees the good. He yearns for the chance to bail us out when we are broken, have committed the crime, or when we just thought we had all the answers for everyone else. It is before our master that we stand or fall. That is our moment, with our God. I am so thankful that He is the one I answer to. He is the one I look to for the answers to an uncertain life, to heal the broken pieces, ease the fear of a pandemic that has turned our world upside down. He is the one I run to for the truth. The forgiveness. The comfort. The grace.

As I say in every one of my writings, I fail at this all the time. I get it wrong and have to carry my heavy ass cross back to the feet of Jesus multiple times a day. I will never profess to be living my life right all the time and I sure as heck am a Christian because I know I need his love and forgiveness more than the next guy. I am a sinner. I have been the judge many times in my life. But the more I get to know Jesus, the more I am put in my place that my position is well below his on any given day and twice on Sunday. This fact frees me up in the best of ways because I can lighten my load. I can pray for what he nudges me to pray for, seek to listen to and understand the hearts of my people, clean up my own backyard instead of judging my neighbors, be a fountain and not a drain and be so freed up that I can freaking LOVE like its my dang job. After all, I believe that’s the biggest job we were given, of all.

“Never look down on anyone. Only God sits that high.”