Weekly Message by Ward Pimley
I AM JUDGMENTAL.
There, I said it. I’m not proud of that, but I am owning it.
Through our local church, I am taking a year-long series of courses under the rubric of “Leadership Development,” and one of our tasks is to identify key weaknesses.
Mine is being judgmental.
Another way of describing it is “sarcastic.” Other terms are “condescending” and “arrogant.”
Whoa! You can imagine how *excited* I was to learn that about myself. (Sarcasm)
If you took an assessment of your biggest faults — weaknesses, sins — whatever you call them, could you do it? I recently did an assessment and concluded I am too judgmental; so, with God’s help, I need to change.
Sarcasm could be family curse because I am not the only one in our clan that needs to make an adjustment, but we each travel alone when we make our assessments and seek to change.
I might be traveling alone here.
The Bible clearly condemns judgmentalism, so I can’t hang onto a lifeline of ambiguity in the sacred text or pass it off as so common a trait that “everyone” does it, as if that were an excuse.
No, I’m standing in the harsh light of God’s Word shining down on me, and I need to shake free from this curse if I want to be obedient to my Maker (which I do), let alone be a church leader.
~FREEING MYSELF~
SHAKING FREE of a harmful trait is not easy – in fact; it feels a lot like losing a close friend. If you’ve tried to make reforms in your life, and you probably have, then you know what I mean.
I am encouraging myself through prayer and Bible study, focusing intently on some of the verses that speak directly to me:
- Psalms 141:3 (NASB20) Set a guard, LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.
- James 3:8 ( NKJV) But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
- Proverbs 13:3 (ESV) Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
- Matthew 12:36 (NIV) “I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.”
- Luke 6:45b (NLT) “What you say flows from what is in your heart.”
The last two verses were from the Master, Himself, so they appear in red letters in my Bible and require serious attention.
~POSITIVE SIDE~
THE FLIP SIDE gives me more encouragement. While recognizing a negative trait that I need to curb, I also can focus on the benefits of a new spirit.
- Ephesians 4:29 (NKJV) Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
- Proverbs 8:8 (BSB) All the words of my mouth are righteous; none are crooked or perverse.
- Proverbs 15:4 (NASB20) A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit.
- Luke 24:8 (ESV) And they remembered his words.
As I make progress along this journey, God can and will open more doors for me to witness to the change He has brought in my life since I first trusted Him for my salvation.
I’m eager to become an ambassador for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), and I can do it only if I am obedient to His calling on my life.
He has placed the marker down. Now, it’s my turn to respond.
May I say, as did the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8 (NKJV)):
“Here am I! Send me.”
~PRAYER~
FATHER GOD, You know my strengths and my weaknesses, how You can use me and ways I let You down. From this point on, Abba Father, mold me into the instrument You intended me to be from eternity past that I might become a true soldier of the cross, an ambassador for Christ, one of Your faithful and obedient servants. In the name of Jesus, AMEN
Ward's Words | BY WARD PIMLEY 