As a young Christian, I read the accounts of God’s people and deduced I must be missing something. God couldn’t use people who lied, committed murder, had multiple wives, and were obviously sinful, could He?
Let's look at the disciples just before Jesus’s crucifixion.
They quarreled over who was the greatest (Luke 22:24-38). Next, we have Jesus’s inner circle gratifying their fleshly desire for sleep while He agonized in the garden alone (Matthew 26:40-41). Then, after Judas betrayed Him, the disciples deserted Jesus when He was arrested (Mark 14:50-51). Lastly, Peter’s three-time denial that he even knew Jesus (John 18:15-26) is enough to make one gasp.
We might rightly judge all twelve of them unworthy to be the foundation of the New Testament church. But God uses real-life, flawed people as a demonstration of His acceptance, forgiveness, and grace.
Thankfully, when we fail out of fear and rebellion, He restores us. When we understand God in this way, it creates in us a freedom to be transparent about our weaknesses and failures, which is precisely the humility we need to approach God. Our acceptance of God’s acceptance of us frees us from having judgmental attitudes of others.
Dear Father, help us to be more concerned with promoting Christian growth in fellow believers and less about judging their Christianity. May we realize that as Your children we are all acceptable in the Beloved.
Go Deeper — Today and tomorrow catch yourself if you begin to judge someone else. Ask God to show you to see them as He sees them. Then see if your attitude changes.
Read Further — Can people truly change? Read Transformation: How Does It Happen?
Photo Credit: Tyler Lastovich