Overcoming guilt day twelve

Have you ever noticed that people are often quicker to judge people that commit the same sins that they themselves have made? The old saying goes like this, "We see the faults in others more plainly when we have those same faults in ourselves." A person that is quick to judge others is certainly carrying loads of guilt. When we are having trouble forgiving ourselves of a certain sin, we will find it particularly hard to forgive others when they commit the same sin.

One of the reasons we can't move past our guilt no matter how many times we pray and ask for forgiveness is because we are still judging others that have committed the same sins. If we will move past thinking about ourselves and focus our time and energy on removing judgementalism from our hearts we will find that we move past our feeling of guilt. At the same point that we judge someone else, we find that our own soul judges our self without us being aware that we are doing it in our subconscious. How judgemental are you of other people. Answer these questions to find out.

1. do you point out others people faults
2. do you think about other people's actions and think about how pitiful they are.
3. do you prowl and nose around in the affairs of others?
4. do you sit with someone else and discuss the issues of failure in someone else's life that isn't in the room with you?
5. do you pray to God 'about' someone else, sort of like a tattle tale?
6. do you often compare yourselves to others?

If you answered yes to two or more of these questions you are a judgemental person. I know that someone is thinking, "I do some of those things, but, I'm not judging anyone." Even if we don't realize it, we are being judgemental.

Think about this, suppose you were getting a divorce. Would you want a room of people

1. Pointing out your faults, yet not judging you of course.
2. Thinking about your divorce and discussing how you may have been the one at fault but of course not judging you in the process?
3. Prowling into your business...visiting you or phoning you just so they can get the scoop but never thinking about judging you?
4. Praying to God about your divorce reminding Him of your faults saying, "Lord pay them back for what they have done." Yet not judging you at all.
5. Comparing themselves to you thinking they are better because they haven't been divorced. But never judging you.

Most of us would not want people to be that way towards our unfortunate events and failures in life, yet, we don't think it is all that bad when we do those things towards others. We tend to do those things towards others and justify it by saying, "Oh I wasn't judging them." Somehow we think that makes it OK to do it.

In truth we are judging others when we do those things even if we don't realize it. That brings us to the place that when we ourselves make mistakes we have a hard time forgiving ourselves. If you truly want to move past inner guilt that has held you hostage to depression or fear and feelings of insecurity your focus has to be taken off forgiving yourself and onto forgiving others. When you have truly repented of judging others, you will find that a great portion of the guilt you are carrying is released and no longer taunting you. For Jesus declared, Judge not that ye be not judge for with the same measure that you judge another so will you be judge. Yes, Jesus is in fact saying that if we judge someone, we will be held to the same standard. Make things easier on yourself. Don't talk about the faults of others, and complain about them in prayer. The kind of prayer that 'points to the sin of your brother' Why do some people think this is a Holy prayer. "Oh God, you see what that brother in the church is doing, you know that we don't need that in our church, clean him up or move him out." Wow, what a self righteous prayer! Jesus said when the hypocrite prays it goes something like this, " Lord, I thank you that I'm not poor and destitute like that old sinner over there, I thank you that I give to the poor and I do all the work of God around here..." But a sinner, who wouldn't even look up to heaven fell at the altar and cried, "Lord have mercy on me a sinner." Jesus said, that the sinner walked away righteous, not the hypocrite. Jesus gave us an example of two people praying. The one He called a hypocrite pointed out the failings of his neighbor who was praying as well. The one that Jesus called righteous wasn't thinking about his own goodness, but was crying out to Jesus for mercy.

Sometimes we are carrying guilt because we have failed to really forgive others. If we hear about what others did and we have to say things like, "I can't believe they did that, well, I tell you what I would have done..." we have just judged the other person. Some people will never let go of the judgemental spirit that they have, but for those who can, you can find the freedom of release.