Only God Can Judge Me: Part 1

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Only God can judge me.  We here these words constantly. It's Miley Cyrus' catchphrase- it's a lot of people's catch phrase. This phrase is typically followed by something like "Don't judge, just love", or "What gives you the right to judge?". But I wonder, what is the reason for all these declarations? Why are people constantly feeling like they are being judged? Is it because people are cruel and rude? Sometimes. But if we are honest with ourselves, it is very easy to say those things when we know we aren't living rightly before God. The Bible says that people will know that we are Christians by our fruit. If we are living like hell, doing what we want, and saying "only God can judge me", we may need to re-examine our hearts and lives...

We are all pretty selfish when we take a bigger look. Why exactly do we say what we say and do the things that we do? 9.5 times out of 10, it's because it will benefit us. In fact, we are so self-centered, and so focused on ourselves, that we don't even realize how sinful we are.

The Bible says that we are broken. Our eyes are blinded to the path of life and peace. And as Jonathan Edwards famously said, without Christ, "we are all sinners in the hands of an angry God"! If we were left there- sinful, self-seeking, and always meandering our own way- we would be doomed. But praise God for his love and mercy upon us. He was once far away, because of our sins, but He desired so deeply to be close to us that He gave His only Son to die on a cross for us. He suffered a gruesome, horrendous death, with blood gushing from his side, pain rippling through his body, and nails piercing his hands and feet.

Would you die a slow, agonizing death, being suspended in the air by only nails piercing your flesh if you didn't love someone? I didn't think so...neither would I.
But that is what God did for us, through His Son, Jesus.

And then, all of a sudden, we didn't have to be sinners in the hands of a scary and angry God. Instead, we can be sinners who are saved, washed clean, and made beautiful. We can now call God our own Father, and we can now be with him always. This is the only thing that keeps us from being judged by God. Sure, He still technically judges us, but now when He looks at us, He sees Jesus' sacrifice, and that Jesus took our punishment. Now instead of being angry and disappointed with us, He smiles upon us; He sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17). And all of a sudden, we can be confident before God when He judges us.



So what is so bad about Miley Cyrus saying "only God can judge me"? Well, in a literal sense, nothing at all. But if we take a deeper look at scripture, we will learn that once we are saved through Jesus' sacrifices, we are called away from sin. We should never use our salvation as an excuse to live a life of sin....and if that is what we are doing, God is not pleased.

*This is a new series about God's wrath, God's salvation, and what it means to judge sin correctly and incorrectly. For more information on these topics, keep an eye out for my next post in this series.




A Fresh Start

Pretty Pintastic Party

21 comments

  1. Yes, we are selfish and broken. So thankful for God's grace!

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  2. Amen!!! This is so so full of truth. So many people have used this excuse to do whatever they want

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    1. Thanks for reading, friend!
      That's exactly what inspired this post!

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  3. The photo of tulips with the verse from Zephaniah is beautiful. I enjoyed your well written post, founded on the truth of scripture.

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  4. What a unique way to get Christians to think about our sin. So often, I think of only non-believers feeling judged, but you're right. I think many of us use that excuse when we shouldn't. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks, Leslie! It is something that is on my heart fairly often!

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  5. Thank you for this! It's so easy to do whatever you want and just say that only God can judge you. You really need to think about His desire for our lives, our potential... and live for Him!

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    1. Exactly! We all have so much potential, but to just say "it doesn't matter what I do" is a waste of that potential.

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  6. Good post kristin! We should never play around with God's mercy and use it as an excuse to live sinfully! I believe I have heard the overuse of the phrase, too!

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  7. An excellent reminder... Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty - we hope to see you again next week. :)

    ~Lorelai
    Life With Lorelai

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  8. Well put. I've never understood why people feel threatened by the idea of people's "judgement" when what they mean by that is looks and comments. Let people judge--the phrase should be, in the end, only God's judgement matters.

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    1. For sure! I have never understood Christians not thinking it's acceptable to keep each other accountable. That drives me bonkers!

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  9. This is such a great post and eye opener. I feel like most people who say this are so hypocritical and would be the last person you would see reading the bible or going to church. It's just their excuse to do whatever they please.

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    1. Very true, Lexi! Often times, that is the case. Sometimes it's not, but it often is.

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  10. I loved this. So very true. What is interesting is that those who say it think that the judgment of people is worse than Gods. I'm know it is. Especially if you do not confess or ask for forgiveness. What can people do if we sin or do something wrong? Gossip, talk poorly about us. We should worry more about what God would think not what others think. Those people probably do not even have a relationship with God because if they did they would love God and want to please him.

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    1. That's a good point. I haven't thought of it that way, but it is very true that when we are focused on who is "judging us" we are missing the whole point.

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  11. I'm not a particularly religious person, but I know I can be a selfish person and it's something I'm constantly working on!

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    1. Erin, thank you for reading. I know that my posts can be a little tougher to get through for people who aren't particularly religious. It is so true though that God loves you. We all have our selfish times, but he still loves us :)

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  12. This is so well put! I always felt like people twist this phrase so easily, or they use it when they can't correctly identify when someone is calling them out with love. I have a friend who always says (kind of jokingly) that he prefers people to judge him because when God is the one judge who can determine your whole eternity. Great post!

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