Chapter 4, Verse 12 “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
We are not in charge of our brothers and sisters. Their eternal destiny is not our decision. God is the only one who holds the key to eternity placement. Heaven or hell is His decision. This makes sense, because James is saying that God is the only one who can effect eternal outcome.
That then begs the question, who do we think we are getting in the judgment business. There are three reasons I can think of that answer this question. First, we don’t know the whole story about our neighbor, so we don’t have enough information to make a judgment. Secondly, we don’t know enough about the criteria of judgment to make a final decision. Thirdly, we lack the credentials of judgment.
Task for Today: No doubt, if we are honest, we are struggling enough trying to get our own situation ready for judgment to have the time to worry about someone else. When we have done all we can do it will still be insufficient which will leave us no time or energy to worry about our neighbor.
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