Judge Not

In Luke 6:37 we are taught not to judge. I was just reminded why. It’s very painful to have someone place judgment on you or how you are living your life. They seem to think that the decisions you are making are the wrong ones or that the things you are doing should be different.

It hurts so badly because they have no idea what you have been going through. They have no idea how hard you have tried to find the right answers and do what is best. No idea how many tears you have already shed or how many prayer you have constantly said. No idea how many sleepless nights you have had.

We all have things so difficult to deal with that we have no idea what to do, so we just do our best. To some our best just isn’t good enough. Even when we lay it at God’s feet and try to have faith there are those who think we should be doing something else.

Unfortunately, some think they have the right to judge. They think that they know things that they don’t actually know at all, things that they could never, ever possibly know without being in your shoes, or in your head, or in your heart; they could never know unless they were living your life.

So after all the tears I see it as a lesson and a blessing. To be reminded to try my best to never think I know someone’s intentions, or motivations, and most especially their heart. It’s impossible to know any of this without being them. I feel grateful to know that there is only one who is qualified to judge; one who is perfect enough to do it. One who suffered all this sorrow for us and with us, so he truly knows how to be the perfect judge. And it isn’t you or I.

"Mom, Do You Like Yourself?"

I have always felt pretty good about who I am as a person. I’m not overly confident, but I do like who I am. One day when my son Ryan was little he came up to me and said, “Mom, do you like yourself? You know you need to like yourself and be your own best friend, because you can never get away from yourself.” What a wise observation for a little child. Ryan was right. We do need to like ourselves because we can never get away from ourselves, at least not for long. We eventually have to admit that there are things we don’t like about ourselves and try to fix them.

I have learned that we can love, serve, try to keep the commandments, and be charitable and honest people. But even with the best of intentions, sometimes we have to admit that we just aren’t as great as we thought we were. It’s hard to admit that we have let someone down or neglected them, sinned, or simply just weren’t as good as we should have been. It’s an ugly realization.

Thank goodness that at these times there is someone who loves us enough to take up the slack for us. God knew when He sent us to earth that there would be times when we just wouldn’t be as strong, or good, or pure as we wanted to be, meant to be.

We can try hard, but sometimes it just isn’t enough. For this purpose God provided a Savior for us who loved us enough to atone for our sins and shortcomings. He has already paid the debt, we just need to believe and accept the gift.

There are times when we must admit that we aren’t as great as we meant to be or thought we were. When we find that we have fallen flat on our face Jesus Christ is there to pick us up, clean us off, and put us back on the path. He can make us whole again and help us to do better and fix what is broken.

Often in my life I have fallen short and had to rely on the merits of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to fill in the gap.

One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 22:18. Aaron was teaching Lamoni’s father about God and how to pray. He then wanted to commit his life to God. In his first prayer he said, “…I will give away all my sins to know thee…” I echo his feelings. I too want to give away all my sins to know Him.