{"id":21288,"date":"2017-02-07T00:10:40","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T08:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=10029"},"modified":"2017-02-07T00:10:40","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T08:10:40","slug":"february-7-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/02\/07\/february-7-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"February 7, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cMercy triumphs over judgment.\u201d<\/em> James 2:13<\/span><\/p>\n

Slightly Askew<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is so easy to judge others. We are quick to jump to conclusions without benefit of facts. We form opinions based on appearances or hearsay or history. And so often we are just wrong. We don\u2019t see the heart. We don\u2019t know the motivation. We are not aware of the wounds within.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am somewhat obsessive about order. If I walk into a beautiful room, my eye will find the one picture that is slightly askew. All I see is the thing that is not perfect instead of all the beauty, symmetry, and warmth of a well-put-together space. Unfortunately, I do that to people, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet I myself am not perfect. I am painfully aware of my own shortcomings, imperfections, and weaknesses. I have a lot of pictures askew! Who am I to judge another? I don\u2019t want to be like this. God is continually showing me His grace and mercy. He is the only One who can make accurate judgments. His findings are grounded in His intimate knowledge of each individual. He alone is Sovereign and able to judge righteously.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this passage in James, He has shown me a simple truth. Mercy triumphs over judgment. When I see that flaw, for I will certainly see it, remember mercy. Remember that He has shown me mercy. Imitate the God I love by extending mercy to what I see as defective. Only He can make perfect the ones made in His image.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, I will enjoy the beauty, the gifts, and the uniqueness of others. I will focus instead on all the good in them. I think I will be happier and they will be free of my uninformed judgments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFather forgive me for unfairly judging what is not mine to judge. You are ever merciful and gracious. Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMercy triumphs over judgment.\u201d James 2:13 Slightly Askew It is so easy to judge others. We are quick to jump […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5xm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}