God, why do I call impossible what You call possible?
Why do I call unforgivable what You call forgiven?
Why do I compromise with what You call sin?
How I need to know Your heart,
and reach out in Your love and wisdom to others.
It’s easy to love the people who are standing hard and fast,
pressing on to meet that higher calling.
But the ones who might be struggling,
we tend to judge too harshly
and refuse to try to catch them when they’re falling.
We put people into boxes and we draw our hard conclusions
when they do things we know they should not do.
We sometimes write them off as hopeless
and we throw them to the dogs.
Our compassion and forgiveness sometimes seem in short supply.
We can love them and forgive them when their sin does not exceed our own,
for we too have been down bumpy roads before.
But when they commit offences outside the boundaries we have set,
we judge them in a word and we turn them out,
and we close the door.
Chuck Girard, Celtic author
___________________________
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else,
for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself,
because you who pass judgment do the same things.
Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things,
do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience,
not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
prayer & verse 