judge fairly: One Year Bible Reading for October 5

 Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

Jeremiah 4:19-6:15
Colossians 1:18-2:7
Psalm 77:1-20
Proverbs 24:23-25 

Let's look at the Proverb. It says that if you are a judge and you judge unfairly, things will go badly for you. If you meet out justice fairly, then your life will go well. Now, that's true as far as it goes. We all know that in this life, sometimes crooked judges get rewarded. But we all know that real justice will come in the end, even for crooked judges.

But you and I probably aren't going to bang any gavels like Judge Judy up there. We WILL, however, have many opportunities to judge one another on a less formal level. And I think that we need to remember a golden rule when we make those judgements. It's natural to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, and to judge others harshly when we do something wrong. But God calls us to reverse that. We need to LOVE other people, which means giving THEM the benefit of the doubt. Be kind to them, even if they DO deserve unkindness.

And let's be a little HARSHER in judging ourselves. After all, you are only responsible for YOUR holiness. So hold yourself to a higher standard - His - and strive to be the saint that you're called to be.

God, thanks for teaching us what kind of judges we should be.