City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Luke 6:37-38 (HCSB)

¹⁶ “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

John 3:16-18

¹⁸ If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord. ²⁰ But

If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For in so doing
you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.

²¹ Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Romans 12:18-21

Reflection

Easter is a time of the year where we can fall in love again with what God did for us by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus’ mission on earth was to seek and find those who are lost, to bring back all who have gone astray. It was because God loved us so much that He made a way for us to become righteous again in His sight, through the blood of Jesus.

Condemnation for sinners will not to come until Jesus returns in the end times. That is when both those who are alive and who have died will bend their knees and worship Jesus and anyone whose name is not in the book of life will be thrown in the lake of fire. Judgement is real and no one will escape from this fate. It is as sure as death itself.

But, the time of judgement has not yet come. And until it does, we are living on borrowed time where God is allowing as many as possible to seek Him and trust in Jesus for their salvation. As Jesus said in John, He did not come to judge the world but that people may be saved through Him. This was Jesus’ mission 2,000 years ago.

It is when we think we are better than others and do not require God’s grace that we begin to seek and judge others who may not be as “righteous” as ourselves. We become something else than what Jesus was like when He lived on this earth. It takes a time like Easter to remind us of who we are and who God is. If it were not for Jesus, we would still be in our sins and enemies of God.

Application

Thus, it is important for us to understand our own mission on earth. We are not here to judge the world, but to share the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection and how He gave His life in place of our own. Yes, we are to stand up for what is right and holy, but at the same time, we are not here on earth to judge others for their faults(church discipline excluded). Just look at how Jesus overlooked the sins of others in order to bring them into repentance. He called them to turn away from sin and to sin no more, but never stopped seeking after them and to show them His love and compassion. Are we not to do the same?

If we condemn others and do not forgive them, then this is pride and arrogance. We start to become the judge for others and take this responsibility away from God. We are not to play God because we do not know or understand the motivations or hearts of others. God’s promises to hold everyone accountable for their sin will come, but until then, we need to share the good news with as many as we can.

Prayer

Father in heaven, You have given us a pathway to know You through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Help me become more like You each and every day. I need your goodness and grace to constantly remind me of how much in need of You I am. Let me not live a life of judging and condemning others, but to love on them like You have loved me. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.