Don't Judge - Speak Up!

Today, many people are saying, "Shh! Don't say anything, don't judge!" Christians look at Romans 14 and immediately assume this is correct, proper and right. God does say not to judge. We should work hard to not look down our noses at our family and our friends. But is that whole sentence true? Lets take a moment to look deeper.

Don't you just love the Greek and Hebrew langauges? Each word has several very special meanings so you can know exactly what they mean! The particular "judge" used here means: to decide mentally, or judicially, to try, to condemn, conclude, damn, decree, and sentence. Basically what you think when you see the word but so far as I saw, there was absolutely nothing about being silent when you see someone sinning!

Now, lets look at a new passage - just a chapter over! Romans 15:14 says, "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with knowledge, able also to admonish one another."

Lets take a look at "admonish" and see what this word has to tell us. This word in particular means, "To put in mind, to caution or rebuke gently. Admonish, warn."

What does all this mean? God is not saying, "Hush!" when He says "Judge not!" Paul, and God, expect us to tell others when they are doing something wrong. They may not be aware of it, or they may just need someone to help them hear their conscious again. What it does say, however, is that we should reprove, or admonish, gently. Yelling at them isn't the right way to go about it. It probably won't get you anywhere anyway.

I don't know about you, but this is extremely helpful for me. There are times when we have to put this to use. I know first hand that it is painful and hard to tell someone you love that they are sinning.

I hope this helps you! Thanks for stopping in!

Mandy