It's something that's so easily done. We don't even think about it half of the time, we just do it.

Let me try to clarify. You're scrolling through twitter and you see someone tweet a Bible verse. You may know this person and you might not have pegged them as someone who is a believer, maybe based off of their life choices. Speaking for myself, I have thought more than once, "Why does this person tweet something about God but doesn't show it in real life?" Or I've even got angry before simply because my thought was that the person was giving Christians a bad name. Or I could even go so far as to be stuck in my own pride and think, "This is MY faith. Why is this person ruining that?"

Does that sound familiar in anyway? What I'm getting at is, we all struggle with judging one another, both believers and non-believers.

I follow a brand of Christian sports apparel, and some very successful professional athletes do wear some of the apparel. While most of us probably do not know these athletes personally, from what we see on their social media accounts we tend to put them into two categories: stand-out believers and ones that need some Jesus in their lives. Out of the ones who wear the Christian sports apparel, there are some that we may think need some more Jesus, but yet they are wearing His name on their clothing. This same company that makes the brand pointed out that there were people criticizing the brand itself for allowing the "non-standout Christian" athletes to wear their clothing/accessories, mostly because of the same reasons I mentioned earlier.

I loved the response of the brand though. They stated two things: One, that the athletes are not official endorsers of the brand, they just happen to like the clothing. In other words, they don't get paid to wear the clothing. So who is the company to say that "non-standout Christians" aren't allowed to buy and wear their clothing? The second thing, which I loved even more, boiled down to this...

We are all in different walks with God. We are all in different stages in that walk.

Some of us have been believers for a long time, possibly saved when we were just old enough to speak. Others, may have been saved sometime during their teens. Some adults now may have just been saved as of a few years ago or even just weeks or days. You cannot expect someone who was saved a year ago to be in the same place in their faith as someone who grew up with it in their lives. People's lifestyle choices aren't always going to match up perfectly with their faith, because the last time I checked, we are all sinners. If we were perfect, we wouldn't need a Savior now, would we? There is now way for us to know where someone is in their walk, and we shouldn't judge the person, especially if they are still learning how to live the Christian life. It's like expecting a kindergartner to pass the SAT's...

Now don't get me wrong. We are called as believers to hold each other accountable. In Matthew 18:15-17 it says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." However, there is a difference between holding each other accountable and judging each other. It states it very well in Romans 14:10 in saying, "Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God..." and furthermore in Galatians 6:1-2 in saying, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." I just love the middle of the verses in Galatians, "...restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted."

My main point in what I'm trying to say is stated in the verses in Romans. Why do we pass so much judgement on our fellow Christian, or even the non-believer? "Why do you despise your brother?" Out of all that I've said, please take notice of that part. I myself am just as at fault as anyone else, and is a reminder if anything to me about what I need to improve on. The fact is, that person who I'm judging is ultimately my brother/sister in Christ. Why am I despising him/her simply for learning to walk with God? "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God..." It is not our place to judge anyone, but it is our place to hold each other accountable. And it's always a good idea to examine ourselves and to remind ourselves of the difference between accountability and judgment.

One thing I need to do better at myself is to put aside my pride and try my best to remind myself that I am not called to judge people. If I am to hold anyone accountable, it is to be done in "a spirit of gentleness," if anything.

I hope you all get at least something from this, as it is something I needed to tell myself.

God bless!