Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful. Don't judge, and you won't be judged. Don't condemn, and you won't be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. The same measure you measure will be measured back to you. Luke 6:36-38 WEB.

I once heard an elder at our church, who was about 75 years old, say, "Everything that I said I would never do, I have now done." He explained that each time he had looked down on someone else's mistake and said that he would never do that, he later found himself in the same situation. And when he was walking in their shoes, things felt a lot different.

This is something that I wish I had known when I was much younger. When we judge others or look down on their circumstances, we open the door for the same thing to happen to our family and us. Perhaps when young and youthful, we look down at someone overweight, then their weight is on us years later.

Jesus told us, "As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them" (Luke 6:31). On the surface, it means, "Treat people like you would like to be treated," but it goes far deeper than that. How you treat others now is how you will be treated in the future. How is that for poetic justice?

We will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). That is the pattern Jesus gave us: Don't judge, and you will not be judged. Don't condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.

God's laws are like the law of gravity. They work invisibly and silently and affect everyone. All those commandments are still valid when reversed: Judge others, and you will be judged. Condemn others, and you will be condemned. Refuse to forgive others, and you will remain unforgiven. Don't give to others, and it will not be given to you.

If you know of an area of your life where you have criticized or judged someone else, do yourself a favor and repent of it before you walk a mile in their shoes.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for being critical of others or passing judgment on them. I realize that is Your job. Help me see the world through Your eyes. Help me break this cycle and become the best version of myself. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

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