Judge Less Love More

Reflecting on a conversation I had with my daughter recently this thought came to mind and it will become my personal quote “If people JUDGE LESS and LOVE MORE the church and world would be a better place”.  There is seriously so much judgment that comes out of people and churches.  I believe the example of Jesus Christ shows us to LOVE everybody right where they are at.  LOVE them through their bad decisions and life choices.  LOVE them through their mental illnesses and sicknesses.  Instead of JUDGING someone who is gay…LOVE THEM.  DO NOT JUDGE them and shut them out.  Some of the most LOVING and “Christ like” people I know are gay.  We don’t have to agree with their lifestyle to ACCEPT and LOVE them as people.  Instead of JUDGING someone who is a drug addict and homeless because of their life choices….LOVE THEM.  Addiction is a mental illness it is not a choice.  I have been told by several addicts that they loathe themselves so why can’t we show them that they are LOVED by us?  Instead of JUDGING someone who makes mistakes….LOVE THEM.  No one is perfect, we all make mistakes…but why is it so easy for us to point out the mistakes in others instead of showing them the grace of God and LOVING them through their mistakes?  I witnessed my son, Tommy, being judged when making mistakes and while struggling with his addiction and depression.  I can't help but wonder if things would have been different if less people JUDGED and more people LOVED my boy.  I know that he was blessed with many who stuck by his side and LOVED him through it all.  I witnessed many people stop talking to my son because he stopped going to church, thinking he was a “bad” kid….that didn’t make sense to me because wouldn’t that mean he needed to be LOVED even more?   There is almost always an underlying issue that someone is dealing with when they make bad choices time and time again.  It could be a mental illness.  It could be some pain they are struggling with due to abuse of some sort.  EMPATHY is a CHOICE.  When we choose to have empathy for someone who is struggling it is an act of LOVE.  It was my 16 year old daughter that shared with me how she sees this JUDGEMENT every day at her “Christian” school that reminded me that we need to JUDGE LESS and LOVE MORE in everything we do.