Not Your Job

"You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat." 
Romans 14:10 (NIV)

Have you ever taken a job you weren't qualified for? 

Most of us have—and we usually discover our limitations pretty quickly. But there's one job we take on constantly that we're completely unqualified for: playing God in other people's lives. We judge their choices, critique their decisions, and hold them accountable to our standards—forgetting we can't read hearts or know their full story.

Paul makes this point brilliantly in Romans 14. When believers argued over food and holy days, he shifted their focus from horizontal judgment to vertical accountability. Whatever you do in matters where Scripture isn't crystal clear, you do "to the Lord."

Here's what Paul understood: One of the worst things you can do is take on God’s responsibilities as your own. You can't read minds or know hearts. You're not omniscient. Those are God's qualifications, not yours.

This plays out in countless ways. I don't know how you voted, and you don't know how I voted. It shouldn't matter. You're not accountable to me for your vote, and I'm not accountable to you for mine. We're both accountable to God.

So, stop taking the job you're not qualified for. God's got it covered. When it comes to disputable matters, the Father's opinion is the final opinion. Let others answer to the Lord, not to you.

Receive a new sense of freedom as you release others' choices and behavior into God’s capable hands. 

Prayer: Father, thank You that Yours is the one that matters. Forgive me for trying to do Your job of judging others. Help me focus on living faithfully before You rather than policing other believers. In Jesus' Name, Amen.