Keep My Name Out Your Mouth!!!

I guess that's really the way I used to say it too. Keep my name out your mouth. Yea, I know, I had a few expletives added into that sentence. I could really master those expletives. Wow. But that was what it was back then. If somebody was dragging your name, or talking a little trash, or really telling it like it was, that's what we all found ourselves saying. 

But this time, i'm taking that sentence from a different angle. This time, i'm talking about standing in judgement of others. Not only of people in the world, but within the church. Within your family. There are a lot of scriptures about people being in judgement of others. There's also scriptures about believers standing in judgement of non-believers. Sometimes I giggle when I hear people talk about this scripture and how people get so lost with it. Here's that one.

1 Corinthians 5:12-13

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? 

Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 

God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Basically saying that (if i make it personal to me, it's easier to understand that way.) I have NO room in my life to judge or condemn a non-believer. My thing is, that scripture should really be common sense. DUH!!! If they are a non-believer, then they don't know any better! They usually live by the world's views and rules and feel that they are OK. Instead of labeling them and judging them, what we as believers should be doing is HAVING MERCY on them and PRAYING for God to present Himself real in their lives so they can find out the truth. Lets put this in another perspective, in my neighborhood, it never fails that i'll see little girls elementary age through middle school, behaving in ways they don't got no business dancing or behaving. And i'm serious. I saw an 8 year old doing stripper dances on a stop sign. My heart broke. And I couldn't judge that baby. She don't know any better. I could EASILY judge her family, because I would love to think that as her parents they should be doing a better job raising her. But I can't do that either. Her family was/is very much in the world. Knowing that keeps me from judging anyone linked to her, but I can certainly have mercy on them, and pray for God to reveal Himself in a new and powerful way to them. Only He can do it. They don't know better, so how can I judge them?

My next item is about people that talk about people in the church. And please, by no means, don't think that i'm thinking highly of myself. Best believe that I fell square in, dead center, on this one. When I first started to go to church, my first thing was to watch the other people. Yes, the praise and worship team was off the hook! Whew! They could SANG! But in the midst of all that, I was the people watcher. I remember looking at a couple of people and when I say they praised! They praised for real! One person in particular I remembered saying to someone else "Anybody that ends up sitting next to X needs to be careful and leave some room cause she be going IN! She needs some room for them swangin arms!", but in the same breath and in the same people watching I remember thinking to myself "I want whatever X got, she just looks so free when she is praising. She just don't care who is watching. Her world at that moment is just her and God.". Lets take a peek at this verse now:

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, 

but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, 

that it may give grace to those who hear.

In my examples, you'll see, I had NO problem SAYING something that was going to be criticizing someone else's praise in the church. But I had restraint about a thought that was truly a compliment to another believer. I don't know what it took for that crazy praiser to be able to have that kind of serious praise. She could have gone through some serious hell, and when you go through some serious hell, you give God some serious praise. But the one that had a deep worship. I kept that one to myself. Recognizing her heart, that I could see from across the sanctuary, being so in love and wrapped in God's love. Why was I so comfortable to SPEAK my criticism about someone, but kept the "compliment" to myself? Had I known better at that time, I would have realized the scripture above, and been able to control my comments. We have to remember, when we are about to comment something ABOUT someone, is what we are about to say going to glorify God in some way? It is going to bless the person that you are telling that thing to? Or will it degrade someone? If the person you were talking about, actually heard what you were saying, would you need to explain what you are saying to not make them feel some type of way? Those are the times you need to keep that persons name out your mouth.

There is one more scripture that you can meditate on. And I won't go into explaining it. Cause really it's just as simple as it sounds.

Matthew 5:22

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother 

will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother 

will be liable to the council; 

and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

I hope you all have a great day.

Be Blessed! I love you all!