Humility

We just got back from Wednesday night Spanish church. Mayra had been picking up eight kids in her compact car, but tonight they had my wife teaching. I asked Mayra if it would be all right to pick up the kids in my van. Together, we got eighteen kids.

I was thinking about not praising the Lord about it on this forum, when I realized something. This is a balanced forum. If you want the success that comes from disobeying God's command not to judge, speak evil of the brethren, or scorn, we have people ready to help you. And if you want the success that comes from God's blessing, we have people ready to help you.

Just be aware that you can't have both.

So Praise the Lord for the eighteen kids we had on the van tonight!
 
Submitting to God produces humility, and one way to submit to God is to obey His command not to judge.

Realizing that a person who judges describes himself opens some avenues for spiritual success.

First, go over your own judgments of others, and acknowledge that you are guilty of those same things. When I first learned this, I was surprised at some of my sins, but after prayer and thinking, I realized that I really was guilty. You can defend yourself or you can humble yourself under the mighty Hand of God, but every sin that you judge others for, you are guilty of yourself.
 
I'm a little teapot short and stout ....
 
subllibrm said:
I'm a little teapot short and stout ....
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But you are a better teapot than all the others!
 
Listen, Vince has been around on these various forums for quite a while. His MO is always the same. He starts out very reasonable and kind, but then he gets off his meds and then....................
 
No, Aleshanee, your disobedience to God's command not to judge is not discernment.

Bypassing the fact that your accusations are false and your insults violate God's command not to speak evil of the brethren, the New Testament uses discernment for weather weather more than anything else (really). It is used for the Lord's Supper, spirits, and the difference between good and evil. It is never used for motives, emotions, or someone else's spirituality.
 
BALAAM said:
Listen, Vince has been around on these various forums for quite a while. His MO is always the same. He starts out very reasonable and kind, but then he gets off his meds and then....................
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Actually, Balaam, you have half a valid point. It might surprise you to learn that I didn't start any of this. I posted about how God was blessing us and people started attacking. I have not attacked anyone in this conflict--every single one attacked me. No exceptions.

HOWEVER, I had noticed over the years that people would object to the judging, evil speaking, scorn, etc. In every case several people would jump in to attack the person who objected to sin. And without exception, the people defending sin won. I had wondered what would happen if a person took a hard-nosed stand for God's Word, objected to the judging, evil speaking, and scorn, and then didn't back down.

The outpouring of wrath was expected--it has always happened this way. But I'm getting the chance to explain Scripture that few, if any, of the readers understand; in fact, most reject it. If I succeed, great. If I fail, this FFF will only continue to be an obscure site that most Christians have nothing to do with anyway.
 
Vince Massi said:
BALAAM said:
Listen, Vince has been around on these various forums for quite a while. His MO is always the same. He starts out very reasonable and kind, but then he gets off his meds and then....................
Click to expand...

Actually, Balaam, you have half a valid point. It might surprise you to learn that I didn't start any of this. I posted about how God was blessing us and people started attacking. I have not attacked anyone in this conflict--every single one attacked me. No exceptions.

HOWEVER, I had noticed over the years that people would object to the judging, evil speaking, scorn, etc. In every case several people would jump in to attack the person who objected to sin. And without exception, the people defending sin won. I had wondered what would happen if a person took a hard-nosed stand for God's Word, objected to the judging, evil speaking, and scorn, and then didn't back down.

The outpouring of wrath was expected--it has always happened this way. But I'm getting the chance to explain Scripture that few, if any, of the readers understand; in fact, most reject it. If I succeed, great. If I fail, this FFF will only continue to be an obscure site that most Christians have nothing to do with anyway.
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Sounds like a judgement to me.
 
Vince Massi said:
BALAAM said:
Listen, Vince has been around on these various forums for quite a while. His MO is always the same. He starts out very reasonable and kind, but then he gets off his meds and then....................
Click to expand...

Actually, Balaam, you have half a valid point. It might surprise you to learn that I didn't start any of this. I posted about how God was blessing us and people started attacking. I have not attacked anyone in this conflict--every single one attacked me. No exceptions.

HOWEVER, I had noticed over the years that people would object to the judging, evil speaking, scorn, etc. In every case several people would jump in to attack the person who objected to sin. And without exception, the people defending sin won. I had wondered what would happen if a person took a hard-nosed stand for God's Word, objected to the judging, evil speaking, and scorn, and then didn't back down.

The outpouring of wrath was expected--it has always happened this way. But I'm getting the chance to explain Scripture that few, if any, of the readers understand; in fact, most reject it. If I succeed, great. If I fail, this FFF will only continue to be an obscure site that most Christians have nothing to do with anyway.
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Dude, how many times have you accused people of being Ruckmanites when you have little or no clue as to what a person believes. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Sheesh.....
 
The teachers sometimes had to deal with enraged parents whose children had lied to them about a behavior problem. Listening to furious parents, I noticed that their accusations against me were like the ones on this thread: some were deadly accurate, some were partly true, and some were plain ridiculous. But they were always given with the same tone of rage and same angry facial expressions, and I could see that the parent believed them all equally.

Learning that the parents were describing their own sins gave me a valuable tool. When a parent accused me of hating their child, I would calmly explain that teen-age rebellion is normal and would help them deal with their own anger at their child's behavior. When a parent accused me of lying, I knew that the parent already realized their child was guilty, and I would deal with their fear that they were unsuccessful parents.

While the average Christian school teacher does not enter their third year, I taught for ten. I had far better behavior than my peers. Kids who tore up in other classes would behave in mine. The Biblical doctrine that a person who judges is describing his own sins really does work in real-life situations.
 
Projection is a common human response to correction.
 
Four verses after telling us that submission to God produces humility, James 4 tells us

"11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? "

People who disobey God's commands not to judge and not to speak evil of the brethren are exercising pride. God is not telling them to do this, so they often make mistakes as they use their own judgment to do what God has forbidden.

They speak evil of the law and judge the law. They evaluate the law as not covering them ("I'm discerning," "I know the type," I've had experience with this") and their statements show their belief that God's commands are actually evil. But despite their self-exultation, God tells them that they are not obeying the law.
 
Vince Massi said:
The Biblical doctrine that a person who judges is describing his own sins really does work in real-life situations.
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I'm not sure at all that this is a Biblical doctrine.  If I'm thinking of the same passage you are (Romans?) that is speaking against hypocritical judgement, not establishing a doctrine that when we judge, we are describing our sins in others.  Jesus, the sinless Son of God, judged others, and you aren't suggesting that He was describing His own sins, I hope.

It may be that people come down hard on sin in others that they recognize and excuse in themselves.
 
Good to hear from you, Walt.

The passage in Romans does not refer to "hypocritical judgment." It says that you who judge do the same things.

Listening to enraged parents accuse me, I found some of their accusations amazingly accurate, some partly true, and some ridiculous. The parents were describing their own sins. And when I realized that, and applied it to real life situations, I was able to solve several major school problems that my colleagues could not solve.
 
Vince Massi said:
The passage in Romans does not refer to "hypocritical judgment." It says that you who judge do the same things.
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That's pretty much the definition of hypocrisy. 

hy·poc·ri·sy noun \hi-ˈpä-krə-sē also hī-\

: the behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do

 
The Rogue Tomato said:
Vince Massi said:
The passage in Romans does not refer to "hypocritical judgment." It says that you who judge do the same things.
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That's pretty much the definition of hypocrisy. 

hy·poc·ri·sy noun \hi-ˈpä-krə-sē also hī-\

: the behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do

Rogue, you bring up an interesting problem: Do these people realize that their accusations are false? The students told me that the parents who regularly waged war against the teachers would later brag that they knew their children were guilty.

But in these cases, the parents APPEARED to believe that their accusations were true. Romans only tells us that those who judge do the same things, whether or not they believe their accusations.
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Aleshanee, God wants to bless us and tells us how to get His blessings. People who disobey His command not to judge do not get the success that comes from God's blessing.

When you submit to authority, it produces humility, which produces grace, which produces the ability to succeed in God's work.
 
Along with James, Romans 14:4 rejects the authority of those who judge:

"Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand."

A common belief, which we are also seeing on this forum, is that if the people judging are furious enough, their accusations must be true. But Paul, as well as James, rebukes the pride of those who judge. Since God is not with them, their judging is based on their own authority-- not on God, not on truth, not on what actually happened. As Paul explained earlier in Romans, people who judge are only seeing their own sins in someone else.
 
Vince Massi said:
Along with James, Romans 14:4 rejects the authority of those who judge:

"Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand."

A common belief, which we are also seeing on this forum, is that if the people judging are furious enough, their accusations must be true. But Paul, as well as James, rebukes the pride of those who judge. Since God is not with them, their judging is based on their own authority-- not on God, not on truth, not on what actually happened. As Paul explained earlier in Romans, people who judge are only seeing their own sins in someone else.
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You are judging again Preable! Get back on your meds!
 
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