EAST WEEK #22 ~ JUDGE NOT OR YOU WILL BE JUDGED

EAST WEEK #22 ~ “JUDGE NOT OR YOU WILL BE JUDGED”

(I wrote this East Week article a few months back … in light of Tiger Woods, we need to pray for those who are exposed in sin and darkness, love them and not judge them. We all can stumble, but it’s God’s grace that brings us back to life. Pray for those who fall to find grace and truth in Jesus Christ!)

Recently in Hong Kong many celebrities have had to come clean with their mistakes and sins. I simply want to write this to ask everyone to continue to pray for many of the celebrities/artists who have had to face public disgrace and scrutiny. Pray that each of them can find grace, healing and restoration in their lives from devastation and humiliation. Some of these artists/public figures have professed faith in God and making an honest effort to turn a new leaf. Please remember, no one on this earth is perfect, only God is. Our faith is not in our own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ. The Bible says, “judge not or you will be judged.” Jesus did not come to save the righteous, but He came to seek and save the lost, the least and the last. He came to save every one of us from our sins and mistakes.

Sometimes, as Christians, as humans we are so quick to judge others but we fail to examine our own hearts. Many times, we think if someone says they now have faith in Jesus that they will become a saint over night. This is hardly the case. Walking with God is a process, change is a process and love is a relationship. God accepts us with all our mistakes, flaws and sins. We need to also accept others not for how perfect they are, but for who they are. The Bible says, “God’s grace is sufficient in our weakness.” It’s not about how perfect we are, but the Gospel is about how perfect God’s love toward us is. It’s not about what I can do for Him, but what He has done for me. We simply respond in gratitude and obedience to His extravagant, unexplainable and unbelievable love for us day after day.

Don’t expect celebrities, artists, public figures or any Christian to be perfect, but let God judge their hearts. I’ve known and prayed with many of these artists through this whole process and I can say most of them have a good heart, a real faith & I will stand with them not because they are saints, but because they are my brothers and sisters. I’ll stand with them because Jesus stood for them on the cross. I’ll stand because Jesus stood for me when I was lost. Jesus stood for all of us on the cross. He loves us so much that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

We’ve all made mistakes and that is why we all need grace. Jesus accepted us, loved us and forgave us in our worst of sins. I have faith that God will turn these “messes into a messages.” A message that God loves every person so much that He sent His Son to die for them, and that no one on this earth is to far from His grace, healing and forgiveness. No one is too far from our Heavenly Father’s arms of love, not celebrities/public figures who have fallen, not those involved, not you, not me, for all of us in this world are loved by God. That no matter what we have done wrong, God still loves us, forgives us and accepts as we are, if we are willing to repent and turn our hearts towards Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Pray for God’s healing and grace to be poured out on those who have fallen from grace in the public eye. Pray that we as a people, a society, as human beings will be more forgiving, less judging and see every person no matter how perfect or imperfect they are as a child of God. It doesn’t matter how many mistakes I make, you make or anyone makes, everyone of us are beloved children of God. Everyone of us is someone that Jesus died for, each of us have value and significance in God’s eyes because we were created in His image. God doesn’t see our mistakes as much as He sees our hearts. We do our best to be like Christ, where we fail, His love will make up for the difference. That is grace, getting what we don’t deserve… none of us deserve God’s unconditional love, but He gives it anyways. I LOVE GOD!

Let’s put the pass behind the cross, let’s learn from our mistakes and let’s move forward together in LOVE.

Blessings,

Jaeson Ma