Quick to Judge

Have you ever judged someone based on what they were wearing? How about the people they talked to or based on the way their kids act in public? Our Sunday school class is studying the book of Matthew and we talked about judging others last Sunday. I really have a hard time with this. When Caylin was little and we would all go out to dinner, she was well behaved at the restaurant. But I would look over and see a child screaming, pitching a fit and not listening to the parents and I would quickly judge them and wonder why they couldn't control their child. I mean it wasn't that hard, was it? Mine was well behaved. Now fast forward to the past 5 years! I feel as though I am being judged every time I take Jake out in public. He is a typical little boy and nothing like his big sister! He doesn't listen very well sometimes and doesn't sit quietly and play while waiting on our supper. He sings, makes race car or firetruck noises and crashes his cars off the table. So, maybe it is a little harder that I initially thought.

I've tried to be careful this week about making judgements of others around me. I still catch myself judging people based on the people they are with or their actions. I was behind a car this afternoon that had several religious bumper stickers on their vehicle. One-they were driving over the speed limit, two-when a car pulled in front of them, they layed (for about 45 seconds!) on the horn several times! My first thought was that they need to remove all those bumper stickers!! But then it hit me--what if they were on their way to the hospital or someone in their family was sick or hurt and needed them to rush to their side. I don't know their situation, yet I was sure quick to judge them based on their driving.

I'm going to work even harder this week at not being so quick to judge those around me. What about you?