Don't Judge By Appearance

[Mike]

Don't Judge By Appearance

JOHN 7:24 NKJ

24- "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with
righteous judgment."

Making a snap judgment based on appearance often works , but
not always. And the exceptions can really cost you.

The world teaches us to judge people by their appearance. But
God doesn't judge people by how they look , and neither should
we.

1 SAMUEL 16:7 NLT

7- But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance
or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn't make
decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at a person's thoughts and intentions."

One main reason we're not qualified to judge others is because
we don't know their thoughts and intentions. Only God does.

As they say, "You can't always judge a book by its cover."

LUKE 16:15 CEV

15- But Jesus told them: You are always making yourselves look
good, but God sees what is in your heart. The things that most
people think are important are worthless as far as God is
concerned.

It is important that we treat all people with respect , since
they are created and loved by God , no matter how they look.

My prayer :Lord, help me to not judge people by their
appearance. Mike

 

[Coconut]

I read 'how to judge with righteous judgement' explained this way...

To make a righteous judgement one must know what God says on the matter.

Again...To make a righteous judgement one must know what God has to say on the matter.

(and I`m talking about prayer (talking and listening to GOD) here, not about knowing enough scripture to choke a mans arguement with)

What God reveals in the situation is always a righteous judgement, whether we understand [or agree] with it or not.

I`m sure David, the friend of God, and righteous man of old, dancing before GOD in the streets in his underwear would get his hiney tossed out of most modern day churches, and cause him to be branded a heathen to boot.
I wonder if anyone besides his wife told him he was a disgrace, and futher pointed to the old testament scripture, and the law of Moses to prove it...

God, maybe because He continues to try to convince us He really is GOD, tells us to do, or say, and go, and more often than not it wont make any sense to our human reasoning...and I daresay some of us would give God a sermon on what is righteous and good for us if we could lol.

 

[Mike]

I read 'how to judge with righteous judgement' explained this way...

To make a righteous judgement one must know what God says on the matter.

Again...To make a righteous judgement one must know what God has to say on the matter.

(and I`m talking about prayer (talking and listening to GOD) here, not about knowing enough scripture to choke a mans arguement with)

Very true . It's hard to find balance at times . Only God really knows . We are all flawed in the light of Christ . Mike

 

[uknowme]

thanks for sharing this with us...
i think i really needed to read this....so yeah thanks..!!!

god bless
kara

 

[greyfeather]

I try never to judge a person , because I believe in what Jesus said about makeing a judgement on someone. I do not want to be judeged by God for judgeing another. I do not look at the outside of a person ever, I do not think God judges people on what they wear as long as its clean and not reveling in anyway that would show disrespect. I pray always that God will led me away from being judgemental. Im not sayng Im perfect , but I try realy hard. I think all people have good in them it's just hard sometimes for them to show it . So I think when they are around people who are not judgemental it shows this person that they do not have to put their defenses up.

 

[Snowrose]

Hi dear friends.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on judgement. They hold so true. Here is a cute story that our Pastor told the other day:

"A man was having some difficulty communicating with his wife, and he concluded that she was becoming hard of hearing. So he decided to conduct a test without her knowing about it.

One evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her back was to him and she could not see him. Very quietly he whispered, "Would you like a cup of tea?" There was no response.

Moving a little closer, he asked again, "Would you like a cup of tea?" Still no reply. Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer. Finally he moved right behind her and said, "Would you like a cup of tea?" To his surprise and embarrassment she answered with irritation in her voice, "For the fourth time, yes!"

Though this story was funny, it tells me not to be so quick judge when the problem may be with me. God bless.

Best wishes,
Snowrose

 

[Chad]

LUKE 16:15 (I love this verse, a great reminder)

I've made many mistakes in judging people by their appearance, thank GOD He is transforming from and pruning that away.

I was jogging on track one day and had my car keys in my pocket. It was getting dark so I decided to leave. Realised my keys had fallen out and I walked a block back to the track to see the same grungy, raggy looking man who quickly handed the keys to me and kindly told me he was waiting to find out who lost their keys. The man had a heart of gold to stand there waiting in the dark (sunset time at least) for the person who lost their keys. Me. I was so grateful to him and embarassed before GOD, but a lesson learned.

Thank GOD for Jesus who teaches us the righteousness of GOD

 

[Buddy2]

We are all flawed in the light of Christ .

And if we truly believe and remember that, we can not judge. Thank You Jesus for loving me anyway. I love You and everyone because You first loved me.

 

[SpiritLedEd]

I'm old enough to remember the hippies of the 1960's and the Jesus Movement that sprang up among them and spread like wildfire. That movement was started by a preacher named Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel organization. Chuck Smith dressed in "sharp-casual" style. He looked more like he belonged at Harvard University among intellectuals than holding meetings on California beaches surrounded by "flower children". But, those "flower children" were hungry for the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and Chuck was the man appointed by God to deliver it to them.

The movement took root and hippies began to show up at churches up and down the West Coast on Sunday mornings and they were dressed like............hippies and they smelled like.......hippies. The phenomenon caught the media's attention and Chuck Smith found himself being interviewed on a radio talk-show. In the course of the program, a woman called in and complained bitterly about how the hippies looked and smelled when they came to church. She said, "They should look like Christians!" Chuck Smith said to her, "Well, madam, tell me: What does a Christian look like?" The phone went dead.

I grieve over the many times I have turned away from people because they just don't look right or dress right or smell right. Please forgive me, Lord!


SLE

 

[Buddy2]

I'm old enough to remember the hippies of the 1960's and the Jesus Movement that sprang up among them and spread like wildfire

Thanks for bringing this up! And today, we have the homeless or others of 'alternative' lifestyles. God does not wish that any would perish. And this is a main reason I left the church I was attending. A guy came in high on something and actually rolled a cigarette during the service. I befriended Eric but he was ostrasized by most, so didn't come back. I left shortly there after,

 

[Nikki1981]

I myself found that I was judgemental of the way other people dressed. Since being born-again I asked God to take that away. You know what He's done? He's been showing me the hearts of these people. It's kinda hard to explain it, but when I see someone, let's say, dressed grungy lookin or something, I don't see that outside person anymore. I see them inside, how they're lonely or don't think of themselves as worth anything to anybody. That's just an example. But since God has been doing this I give Him all the Glory!
Nikki

 

[Chad]

Amen sister. I feel the same way. Many regrets for the way I judged people by their appearance, yet GOD has changed that. Last week I had an example of somone at my gym that I thought was full of themselves (pride), but I was 100% wrong - at least by the first impression I got. The person was very humble and polite, friendly.

Thank GOD He is faithful that we'll change, by His grace and power. Thank GOD Jesus lived here on earth to leave us a *perfect* example of what GOD expects of us, from us.

 

[Dreamer]

A few weeks ago, a pretty teenaged girl walked into the sanctuary Sunday morning. She had on old jeans and a black tank top. I watched her waltz in and thought, "boy, she came here to show off her body." Just two minutes later, someone spoke to her and she waltzed out of the sanctuary.

After church was over, I went to the nursery to pick up my little one. Who was holding him and smiling at him? The little teenage blond with the black tank top. Her smile and demeanor was so sweet. I touched her arm and looked her in the eye. "Thanks so much," I said.

The young girls at our church, about 50 percent of them, do not dress appropriately. But I am not so sure that they even understand what appropriate dress is. Many of them...their parents don't attend and no one looks after them. They dress the way they see people dress on t.v.

 

[Nikki1981]

That is true Dreamer. Everywhere you look (TV, magazines) the world says its ok to dress certain ways. And often the message is that girls are 'supposed' to dress that way in order to be accepted. If the parents aren't raising their kids up in the Lord, how are they to really know?

Maybe the pastor of the church...seeing it all....should do a sermon on it? Just a thought. But it's really how the Holy Spirit leads.....

Nikki

 

[topzy]

thanks for sharing this with us...
i think i really needed to read this....so yeah thanks..!!!

god bless
kara

Hello everyone,
The bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks...so many of us have a "well" of wrong notions about people in our hearts.so whenever we talk about them we judge people especially those we hold in our hearts we based our judgements on our misconcieved opinions.so i would urge us as xtians to always move close to people and seek to know who they really are before we judge lest we ourselves be judged wrongly.

 

[butterfly]

Thanx for that. I think we all tend to forget that we are a new creation in Christ and that we should want to be more like Him. He hasn't judged us so why should we judge others. You have made me sit back and think of this whole judgement thing. It's easier to judge someone on the outside than the inside. Thanx sweetie, i have to access myself in that area.I wouldn't want that from someone else.

 

[hadirfuss]

I agree with you topzy.


Sin: There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. Psalms 38:3