Today’s reading is from Romans chapter 2, verses 1 through 16 entitled “God’s Righteous Judgment.”
Judgment is a word that can bring about emotions, sometimes not positive. The act of judgment typically comes with forming an opinion about someone’s actions, decisions, or behavior. We can render judgment on our own actions but when someone else judges us, tensions can run high and resistance to input may follow.
In Romans 2:5, Paul wrote “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” The hard truth is that we will all be judged when we die, whether we are believers in Jesus’ birth and resurrection.
As a Christian, I expect to be judged based on the teachings and guidance of the Bible. I work hard to follow the Word of God throughout my life. I have become humbler as it relates to how I evaluate the decisions and behavior of my life. Hearing judgment that I might be wrong still stings, but I am in a place to accept it. My heart and ego are softened by my desire to follow Christ and to be open to criticism and input.
I want to please Christ and build on my relationship with Him and show my love and respect to His teachings. Like any relationship, I want to earn His trust that I am following His Word and I love Jesus for the sacrifice He made on the cross to suffer and die to forgive my sins. I have been working on loving Christ, much like I would a parent. Growing up, I feared my parents as I did not want to disappoint them. I never feared physical harm, but I was afraid of their judgment if I were to make a mistake as I did not want to disappoint them. I feel the same way about God. I want Him to be pleased and proud of me, but I expect Him to render judgment on me if I do not follow His teachings and Gospel.
I believe love versus fear is one of the key decisions for a Christian to make about God’s judgment. Do you follow God because you love Him? Or do you follow God because you are afraid of Him? Many times, we “go through the motions” in our faith, go to church, sing the hymns, kneel, recite what the preacher tells us, but we are not connecting with what we are saying. We are in the routine of reciting what we are told, or some churches teach that we will never meet God’s expectations and we continually feel guilty or conflicted in our faith. We go to church because we are afraid of God, and we are not truly connecting with the Bible to feel God’s love. There are not enough “Hail Mary’s” or confessionals that make us feel better. It is difficult for some to feel loved by God when they only feel negative feelings of guilt related to their faith.
I think this leads to the difficult questions of “why should we believe in Christ?” Should we believe in Christ because we fear His judgment when we die? Or should we believe in Christ because we believe He loves us?
I hope that you get to a place in your faith where you follow Christ because you love Him and believe that your daily life will be better following His teachings. I hope you find a church community that preaches the truth about the Bible where God’s love for us is demonstrated time and time again. God will judge us, yes. But a life following Christ should not just be about the guilt or fear of judgment. It is about learning how we are loved by God, and He wants what’s best for us. Scriptures in the Bible repeat that over and over.
Written by the prophet John who was a disciple and witness to the life of Jesus on earth, he wrote in 1 John 4:7-10, 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
My prayer for you is that your relationship with Christ is centered on love. A love for His teachings. A love for what He has done for you. A love for the discipline and structure that following Christ provides for your life. I pray that you fear His judgment upon your death enough to explore a relationship with Him while you are living, where you appreciate and respect the expectations and disciplines of living a life to be saved by Him.
