Being Judgmental

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Being Angry with People
It is so human to be judgmental and we are all doing it everyday without even being aware of it.

Just this morning, I was thinking "What is the main cause of conflicts between people? What causes anger between 2 people?" and one word came to mind... "Intentions"

Think about the last time you became angry... more often than none, there certain assumptions made about the other person we are angry with and most often, these tend to be negative thoughts about their "intentions"; we think that the other person "is out to get us and make life difficult for us and hurt us".

We always seem to assume the worst and occasionally, we might even read between the lines... Well, I don't doubt that sometimes there are people who are just out to get us or make life difficult for us, but one thing remains true... we are not the other person and therefore we will not understand the way he/she thinks.

So the next time you feel angry, it would be good to analyse a little deeper to see what assumptions we have of the other person... what "intentions" do we feel the other person have? We have a choice whether we want to give the other person the benefit of the doubt and deal only with facts rather than reading beyond and get angry with assumed intentions... difficult but definitely worth trying for the sake of our mental health :)

Misreading People
Sometimes, we misread people because we are just so quick to want to judge. Saw a video clip yesterday about a child... Won't spoil the fun and you can watch it below before we further ahead:



When was the last time you "sentenced" someone with your judgment? Another personal favourite... "The Cookie Thief" by Korinna Sehringer. Watch it here:

http://www.atomfilms.com/af/content/atom_453

Being Angry with God
We don't only become angry with people but also with God, especially when we face difficulties and when our prayers are not anwered (I am guilty of that too) and we say "God, how could you?!"

For staff devotion today, we used the "Daily Bread" article on Naomi from Ruth 4:13-22. Having lost her husband and her 2 sons, Naomi was so devasted that she wanted to change her name from Naomi (which meant "my delight") to Mara...

When people greeted her, she said, "Don't call me Naomi, " she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." (Ruth 1:20-21)

It is no wonder Naomi felt this way because after all she did lose her loved ones... not 1 but 3 at the same time. As times, we feel like Naomi and feel that God has forsaken us when we encounter bad things. But for Naomi, although she lost her husband and two sons, she was given something totally unexpected—a devoted daughter-in-law and a grandchild who would be in the lineage of the Messiah.

James 1:2-4 says "Consider it joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Matthew 6:33-34 says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Sometimes, God wants to help us but we are so engrossed with one form of help, our attention becomes so selective, just as the following anecdote tells us:

Why Didn't You Help Me?
It had been raining for days and days, and a terrible flood had come over the land. The waters rose so high that one man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house.

As the waters rose higher and higher, a man in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the rowboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and suddenly a speedboat appeared. "Climb in!" shouted a man in the boat. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the speedboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters continued to rise. A helicopter appeared and over the loudspeaker, the pilot announced he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the helicopter went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and eventually they rose so high that the man on the roof was washed away, and alas, the poor man drowned.

Upon arriving in heaven, the man marched straight over to God. "Heavenly Father," he said, "I had faith in you, I prayed to you to save me, and yet you did nothing. Why?" God gave him a puzzled look, and replied "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

Super Embarrassed
After staff devotional today morning, I sent an email to share some of the points above and shared the link to the video of the "misunderstood child". Somehow, I did not realize that there were some links to objectionable videos on the link bar on the right of the video on the website... you can imagine the embarrassment when someone told me that much later; I have just sent a mass mail to my fellow colleagues from 3 departments in a Christian organizations with links to objectionable content next to it! So "malu"! Even though I told myself it wasn't intentional but then still felt bad and had a bit of headache for the rest of the day. Sighhh.