I was reading a book today and it had a segment on how fast we are to criticize or judge others. There were two ladies sitting at church and whispering during the entire sermon. The man behind them was getting irritated and at the end of church, the ladies were introduced. One of them was a foreign missionary and did not speak English. The other lady was translating for her. This made me recall mine own stupidity.
Several years ago, we lived in a neighborhood of duplexes while we were building a house. Everyday, I saw one of our neighbors (in his mid 40's) get in his Jeep and drive to the mailbox. I saw this day after day and for some reason, this really annoyed me. I continued to get more and more aggravated and voiced my opinions to my family. " I don't know why he drives to the mailbox. How can anyone be so lazy?" I thought about how so many Americans are obese and too lazy to walk. Everyone wants that parking space closest to the door. Let's go to the all you can eat buffet and gorge ourselves! Oh, my thoughts were not very nice.
And then I got knocked down a peg or two. I saw the man get out of his Jeep to go into his house. He had one leg! Boy, did I feel sheepish! Another neighbor told me the man had lost his leg in Vietnam. Well, hit me again! He was a war hero and had been featured on the cover of a magazine. I think of that periodically. I try to not be hasty and jump to conclusions. We would all be better off if we accepted people at face value and not try to judge their actions according to our standards or expectations.
"Judge not, lest you be judged."
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