Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” -Lord Jesus John 7:24 NIV
If we believers are to judge the world we should be able to settle issues among ourselves to bring correction, fairness, equity and wholeness in our Church family.
One of the basis for judging rightly is realizing that in God, the heart matters.
Saul and David are perfect case studies.
Though they were both chosen and anointed by God himself, their tenure as Israel's king reveled the difference in their heart attitudes.
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Saul loved by the people, lived for their approval because to his mind, they -the people - made him king. David however had his heart fully after God and his service to the people was ruled by a reverential fear of God and not just a love for the people.
As the bible records, both men sinned gravely but this marked difference in spirit determined the end result.
Saul instructed by the Lord to destroy all living things in the battle, preserved the livestock to please the people. The people's opinion mattered more than God's opinion. Therefore his sin was not towards the people- he lived up to their expectations of a king- but his heart was rebellious to God('s word). Though he said sorry, he did not repent of his rebellious heart even after God left him; after all, to the people, he was still King.
1 Samuel 13:13. 15:11,24-30
David on the other hand, sinned in such a way that the people were hurt and his family paid gravely for his sin. God punished his sexual sin and murder - his son died and there would no longer be stability in his home. But his heart was truly repentant towards God. To him his relationship with the Lord was too much to lose. This man loved the Lord his God; to him, God's opinion always mattered. Therefore God forgot his sin and established his kingdom forever. 2 Samuel 12, Isaiah 9:7 💙
To be spiritually minded is to see and judge from the perspective of God.
God's thinking and heart is revealed not only in one or two scriptures, but in the totality of the bible expressed in the person of Jesus Christ.
Man is naturally carnal. He judges from what he sees, hears, feels and thinks, but God judges the inner man. He sees our motives, drive and passions.
God judges the attitudes of the heart.
As his children, we live by the spirit and therefore should judge by the spirit.
One sure way of judging by the spirit, is to judge by the word of God from the perspective of the new covenant of grace.
In Christ, our sins are paid for by Jesus' death on the cross. Though God still punishes evil, and injustice should always be confronted (after all, evil does prevail when good men do nothing), let's be slow to dismiss or permanently label others.
Hear all parties out, but know that human analysis is often incomplete and carnal. Now to be an imitator of God, one has to reason from the perspective of grace and restorative truth. John 1:17
Man's heart is God's forte.
The ability to discern correctly grows as we grow in our relationship with God's word and his Holy Spirit. However, we do not need to see a man's heart to extend the grace we live under, to them. Be prudent but know that believing the best of every person is not a compromise of God's word, it is Agape - God's generous kind of Love.
1Cor 13:7, 4:5 .........................
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. Galatians 6:1-2 AMP