Judge Not

[RevDWW]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

If I err let it be on the side of mercy...

AMEN!!!!!!

[Sister Alvear]

and that does not mean I condone sin for those that know me KNOW I do not however we must be very careful what we say and how we say it...
Yes, I do want to love what God loves and hate what He hates...

Am I a paradox?

[Barb]

Originally Posted by Sherri

Amen, Sis. I am a little blown away by some of the stuff I've read lately. But I'm thankful for the group of friends that I have on here that sincerely love God and love people, even if we don't all think just alike.

Amen, Sistergirl!! How boring would that be if we all thought just alike?! I have 6 younger brothers...all saved and sanctified but one, and we sure don't think alike.

[stmatthew]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

and that does not mean I condone sin for those that know me KNOW I do not however we must be very careful what we say and how we say it...
Yes, I do want to love what God loves and hate what He hates...

Am I a paradox?

And this, to me, is the crux of the matter. Some would believe that if you even mention their sin that you are judging them. But can we really say we love someone and yet allow them to continue in sin?

[Broken]

Originally Posted by stmatthew

And this, to me, is the crux of the matter. Some would believe that if you even mention their sin that you are judging them. But can we really say we love someone and yet allow them to continue in sin?

I am anxious to see the response to this question~

[Barb]

Originally Posted by Sister Alvear

If I err let it be on the side of mercy...

Amen, Mother!! This thread lets me know that God is dealing with us all on the same thing. This morning I wrote something and was going to finish it and start a thread...rather than do that, I'll just drop my thoughts here if it's okay...


It is the arrogance of man which makes us think that we can know the heart of another. Oh, we can know if they open their mouth and say something they shouldn't. And we can know if their actions are less than honorable.

But without words or deeds, who can really know?! I'm not talking about the gift of suspicion...no, I mean, how can we know for sure?!

Truth is, friends, we can't.

Some folks that we think sit on the right hand of the Father may in fact be as far from holy as one can get. Others we freely cast into the abyss because they ruffle our little opinons or don't line up with our convictions may in fact be people after God's own heart.

Who knows the heart of man?!

Not I...the only heart I can be sure about is mine, and trust me, I know it well. I know when my reaction to an action crosses a line. I know when my heart may be lingering too close to a snake pit...I know me.

I don't know you. I can't give an account to the Master for what you think or say or do. It is impossible. The only heart I can guard is my own. The only heart I have to answer for is my own.

And so, if I don't know your heart, how dare I judge it?! What gives me the right?! When did God fall from His throne?!

May heaven free me from the sin of assumption!!

[Barb]

Originally Posted by stmatthew

And this, to me, is the crux of the matter. Some would believe that if you even mention their sin that you are judging them. But can we really say we love someone and yet allow them to continue in sin?

I don't think so, Matt...there is a way of displaying love and reproving without condemning.

[Sister Alvear]

Originally Posted by stmatthew

And this, to me, is the crux of the matter. Some would believe that if you even mention their sin that you are judging them. But can we really say we love someone and yet allow them to continue in sin?

Mentioning sin is not judging them.
While we cannot force people to quit sinning we can love the sinner but not love the sin...

I will give you a very close to me example...My daughter in law´s mother came to live in our area. She really fled from Sao Paulo. She was shacked up with a dope leader. After we took the gospel to her she decided to flee in every sense of the word.
She did not raise my daughter in law however she is her mother. Sin lead her down a horrible road...
When she came she had many bad habits...
After many months she still smoked and did things she should not do. Many of our people wanted me to kick her out. She did not live in my house but a little house that belongs to the church. She did several things that brought much shame to us...
Through all these months I never lost hope that God could change her. Only a couple months back she quit smoking and is doing so good...
She never doubted my sincere love for her soul and in the end after a long hard struggle love won out...
Were there times I felt like kicking her out? Yes, there were for she did horrible things...yet...I reminded myself over and over again where she came from...I have no earthly idea what it would be like to be coming from such a life…
Today she sang with the redeemed at the front of the church…I am glad love and mercy won out.
I never condoned her sin...but she knew I was praying for her.

[Sister Alvear]

As a missionary and a leader I have had to make hard decisions...but I try to make them in the fear of God and not be swayed by man´s opinion and pressure.

[Sister Alvear]

Not very long ago I sat down with some USA visitors and told them it would be best for them not to visit our church...I have more backbone than you think...I had to do that in the best interest of the church. However I did it in love and was nice about it.