Maxwell Droke tells the story of a trial in England that was about to start when they noticed that they only had eleven jurors in the jurors' box. When questioned by the lord chancellor about the missing juror, the foreman said, "Don't worry. He was called away by an urgent message, but it's all right. He left his verdict with me."
Clearly the juror had already made up his mind before hearing all the evidence. If you're like me, you think that's a disturbing story. However - and here's where honesty comes into play - we do the same thing. How many times have we judged someone else not knowing both sides of the story. Proverbs 18:17 describes where we find ourselves many times, "The person who tells one side of a story seems right until some else comes and asks questions". We decide who's right or wrong before we even hear the other side of the story.
On Facebook the other day was a post regarding one of the women who made accusations against Brett Kavanaugh, Supreme Court nominee and now Justice. She admitted that she had never met Kavanaugh and her story was made up. Here's the sad truth - literally millions, including almost 50% of our Senators, believed her without ever hearing the other side of the story.
So many times we judge people based on skin color, race, gender, age, economic status or appearance. It's important that we refrain from premature conclusions. We can't really know all the facts or what a person is truly like on the inside. 1 Corinthians 4:5 says, "Judge nothing before the appointed time, wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts." Today, ask God to help you from passing judgement on others until you know ALL the facts.
Stay passionate for our Lord,
Pastor Carl