Truth be told, from whatever source, remains the truth...

[GreatLakesGramma]

Just so you know where I am coming from, I have experienced having verbal abuse heaped upon me, being called hypocritical, self-righteous, judgmental, not a real christian, etc., for refusing to enable someone in sin or self-destruction. So long as you do what those people want, they will praise you to the heavens, but the minute you say no to anything, you become the lowest of pond scum. But you HAVE to stand firm and draw the line, if you really want to help them.

And when they find they can't manipulate anyone else or they drive away everyone else who's tried to help them, they will come back to you, because they know you really do care. I'm very thankful that right now I don't have to deal with any of that. And I hope and pray that I won't have to any time soon.

[LifeHiscost]

Oh yeah. Tell the family in need of food they need the Holy Spirit. Tell whose car is stuck in the mud he needs the HS.

I would say that quite fits this injunction.

"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. " James 2:14-17 NKJV

Joy!

[LifeHiscost]

Gerry has a point though. Although in those examples, I think you're really judging a person's situation, not the person himself. But there are times when it is very important to judge a person. I would hate for my son to marry someone without thoroughly evaluating her character, maturity, and most importantly, her spirituality. Because being married to someone who is only going through the motions of being a Christian, when you yourself are seeking above all else to walk with God and live in constant surrender to His will, can make for a very unhappy home life.

" But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one."1 Cor 2:15 NKJV

Joy!

[Woody]

Quote:

Just so you know where I am coming from, I have experienced having verbal abuse heaped upon me, being called hypocritical, self-righteous, judgmental, not a real christian, etc., for refusing to enable someone in sin or self-destruction. So long as you do what those people want, they will praise you to the heavens, but the minute you say no to anything, you become the lowest of pond scum. But you HAVE to stand firm and draw the line, if you really want to help them.

That's kid's stuff. Have you been told you are lost and going to Hell? That kind of stuff is reserved for Club Adventist I guess.

[Gail]

I am reminded of the parable of the sheep and the goats. The ones that the Lord rejected were done so on account of how they treated people.

The Number One message of God in His Word is one of love. If we have everything else but lack this we are like the clanging cymbal of 1 Cor.13.

It is through our love that the world will know that we are God's- 1 John 4.

If you are communicating with others and they don't "get" it- don't be too quick to write them off. Look to ourselves first and see if we truly are representing Christ and are actually handing them a lifeline.

[teresaq]

I am reminded of the parable of the sheep and the goats. The ones that the Lord rejected were done so on account of how they treated people.

The Number One message of God in His Word is one of love. If we have everything else but lack this we are like the clanging cymbal of 1 Cor.13.

It is through our love that the world will know that we are God's- 1 John 4.

If you are communicating with others and they don't "get" it- don't be too quick to write them off. Look to ourselves first and see if we truly are representing Christ and are actually handing them a lifeline.

as i go hide under a rock....

[Gerr]

When I look at a person, when I make a decision that that person needs help, I have formed an opinion, a decision, a judgment! Is that bad?

[Gerr]

Originally Posted By: Gerry Cabalo

On the other hand, you can't help people until you've judged them.

That is a statement that could very well be misunderstood, Gerry. Hopefully this attitude I now add might help clarify what I believe you would agree with.

I judge every person as deserving from me, the grace Jesus offers me freely.

" But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8 KJV

Joy!

That was intentional. I wanted to see in what sense my statement would be taken. Too many have taken Mt. 7:1 to extreme, I fear. Some saw the subtlety and realized I meant it in a positive sense. Some immediately jumped on its pejorative meaning and you've seen the posts.

[Gerr]

We cling...we cling! We love our ability to be able to 'judge' so much that the out of context texting begins!! The postings immediately went to defending how or when we can 'judge' or what the word really means or our own meaning, reminds me of a former president, we should be talking about Gods love!!!

What is more important, our perceived right to judge, or act in mercy and love?

By the way, Christ parable about doing good and the reasons for it.."you have done it unto the least of these". During this time of year, still, we have not learned about the supreme love of God!

You are totally missing my point. Before you can fill a need, you need to make a judgment if there is a need in the first place. I used to contribute to DAV until I read a news report that something like 90% of what was collected went into the pocket of the collector.

[Tom Wetmore]

...You are totally missing my point. Before you can fill a need, you need to make a judgment if there is a need in the first place. I used to contribute to DAV until I read a news report that something like 90% of what was collected went into the pocket of the collector.

Gerry,

I am thinking that by your reaction that you do not appreciate being misunderstood, that you perhaps find it hard to believe that your point could be misunderstood, and that by repeating your point yet again (a point that has been echoed repeatedly by others as well...) suggests to me frustration with any apparent lack of understanding with your point. (There is perhaps an undercurrent of judgmentalism... but I digress...)

I understand being misunderstood...

I don't suppose it occurred to you that you (and the rest of the pro-judgment posters) may have "totally missed my point" of this thread and totally missed the point of Mother Theresa's simple statement of truth. Those points are quite different and everybody seems to have missed the former and most the latter.

IMHO there is a great deal of resistance to and avoidance of loving one another unconditionally. And we think our human wisdom (our exercising of judgment) knows what is best.

Jesus pointedly said "Judge not" and "Love one another", which is the point emphasized by Mother Theresa. The question is, "Why are so many here choosing instead to keep totally missing the point?"

Tom

[Woody]

[Gerr]

well, uh, never mind. Not that important to be arguing about. Sorry.

[Tom Wetmore]

For some reason this triggered the thought of one of my favorite verses - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding.

As I have contemplated that verse the highlighted part just jumped out at me. A major part of our trusting relationship with the God of love and mercy is to lead with our heart and not our head." Sometimes the only help we can give is our love.

So many times I have walked or driven past someone in need because my head (my judgment, wisdom, rationalizing self) said to keep on going, because... My heart's first impression was to stop and help.

When you stop to analyze the situation this is often the end result. The loving thing never happens. We move on and immediately put it out of our mind. Not even the wise remedies that some here have suggested that would be supposedly a better more loving course of action to "help" the person in need.

Is it love avoidance?

[GreatLakesGramma]

I guess it's just in the way you look at things. My son says I'm left-brained. He's right-brained. When he is confronted with a problem, a puzzle, a job, he jumps right in and starts with the first thing he sees, then works outward from there. I can't do that. I have to examine the entire picture in detail, make note of everything that needs to be done, break it down, then choose where to start. People function differently, but either way, the job gets done.

Seems like a bunch of you here think the left-brained approach is judgmental, that it's wrong to examine someone's situation in order to help them help themselves, to make a permanent improvement in their situation.

So, is it more loving to give a homeless person a lunch, then walk away and forget about him, or to invest your time and energy helping someone actually solve their problems for the long term?