This summer, I made a push towards better health. I set a goal weight, began eating better, and exercising daily. Then, five pounds away from victory, I started regressing. With every snack, I felt increasingly furious with myself, and my self-talk became horrendous.
As a mental health professional, I know cruel self-talk is both common and harmful. Another thing equally as dangerous is negative thoughts and talk about others. Either way, when we are harsh or critical, we are being judgmental, and it grieves the heart of God. It also poisons our brains and makes our ability to love others and ourselves nearly impossible.
I recently read something in Jesus Calling that got my attention: “Come to Me and rest. Give your mind a break from its habitual judging. You form judgments about situations, this person, that person, yourself, and even the weather as if judging were your main function in life. But I created you first and foremost to know Me and to live in rich communication with me.”
After reading that, I realized I was judging myself as bad because I was struggling with snacking. When I drag that out into the light of Jesus, it’s whacked! He created me with strengths and weaknesses, and if my flaws drive me to Him, who says they are bad?
According to the Bible, this compulsion to judge comes from the fall of man. Adam and Eve ate fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and we’ve been judgy ever since. When Jesus said not to judge the speck in someone else’s eye until we get the “log” out of our own eye, I believe he was talking about lumber from that poisonous tree. He also said once we get the rotten wood out of our own eye, we will then be able to see clearly to help remove the speck from someone else’s. In other words, we aren’t fit to judge, criticize, or even help anyone, not even ourselves, until we start seeing things from Jesus’ viewpoint.
2 Corinthians 5:19 says, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” What amazingly good news! But the world won’t know to accept this gift if we don’t tell them. In today’s climate, we are way too busy judging people as good or bad depending on how they look, drive, vote, or if they vaccinate. Folks, if we don’t see things the way Jesus does, we are wrong. We have a log in our eye.
This week, when you are tempted to think poorly of yourself or anyone else, please pause and ask yourself what Jesus sees. Then be humble enough to admit you might have a log in your eye. That’s a condition the Holy Spirit would love to help you with. Once it’s out, go tell the world that God’s not mad at them, and there is a free gift of salvation that’s theirs for the taking.
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