[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Wednesday, July 6, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello and greetings to most of you once again for the second time 
today.  Hope your day is going well, by God's matchless grace and His 
providential care.

Today's contribution is a poem which make most, if not all, of you feel 
uncomfortable, but certainly is still appropriate.  How many of us 
criticize or judge unjustly others when we don't really know them in 
terms of their personal lives? We all do, especially people in the 
public eye whom we know about but don't know personally.  The poem I'd 
like to present to you today deals with just this subject.  Either 
before or after reading it, you just might like to read and/or listen 
to a specific portion of Scripture, namely Matthew 7:3-5.  Anyway the 
title of this poem is "Judge Gently," rendered as follows:

Pray, don't find fault with the man that limps
Or stumbles along the road,
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears
Or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
Though hidden away from view.
Or the burden he bears placed on your back
May cause you to stumble, too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today
Unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.

You may be strong, but still the blows
That were his if dealt to you
In the selfsame way, At the selfsame time
Might cause you to stagger too.

Don't be too harsh with the man that sins
Or pelt him with word or stone
Unless you are sure, yea doubly sure
That you have no sins of your own.

For you know perhaps, if the tempter's voice
Should whisper as soft to you
As it did when he went astray
It might cause you to falter too.

At one time I used to criticize everyone or anyone who didn't live up 
to what I considered as "my" standard of living and loving, but I've 
changed completely on this one.  Here is a suggestion that I have found 
helpful in the area of constructive criticism.

Let's say you have a close personal friend or relative that is engaged 
in an activity or philosophy that you once espoused.  You might 
approach him or her with something like this:  "Years ago I was like 
you are now, doing things that I eventually learned were wrong, but I 
now know that what I did didn't go far.  So my advice to you is that, 
with God's help and for the sakes of your family, friends and 
associates, plese, with God's help and the prayers of those concerned, 
try to extricate yourself from whatever is wrong." You just might want 
to mention to him/her the particular thing that you dislike.

And that will do for today.  Until tomorrow when, Lord willing another 
daily thought message and article will be posted, may the God of 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and 
collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian 
friend and brother, Paul

P.S.  This is something that hopefully will engender some discussion, 
whether on a list or privately, in my opinion.  Paul