Don't rush to judge others

 Shannon Suttle

One of the most powerful revelations and truths shared from Jeff Jansen’s funeral in my personal opinion was when the Pastor leading said something of this nature. (I cant remember word for word) 

“We don’t all start from the same place. And while Christian’s have a tendency to judge by our measures of how we see things and our own starting places, heaven measures by how many head winds we deal with”. (He was referring to how many difficulties) 

These are my thoughts about what he said. For example, one person may have been raised in a great Christian family with tons of support. Therefore, they have a leg up to those who didn’t have that luxury. Like me. I wasn’t raised in a Christian family and I had so many challenges and diagnoses that literally should’ve taken me out so many times. My starting point was nothing like a lot of Christian’s and I know many of you can personally relate. 

I believe that’s why we see favor on people you or I may be intrigued as to why. I mean, I personally get it because of where I came from and how gracious and amazing God has been to me. But I see a lot of people who have lots of favor that many judge. I think it’s because they’re not “seeing” the person right. 

But heaven sees. Heaven sees their challenges and is cheering them on because they’re challenges are rough. Tougher than the average. Mercy! 

And this is what the scriptures mean by God looks on the heart and man looks on the outer person. Sure there are some people who are blowing it and are not who they say they are… but spiritual discernment is key to see how God sees. And then some people who battle self righteousness get incensed in these particular situations …like the parable of the big brother and the prodigal. They can’t understand how God would favor or even be willing to love someone who’s fell on their face. But we only see a short blip of someone’s circumstances where heaven sees the entire story. 

I think we all need to be so careful where we place our judgements no matter what we know about someone. I always try to think of this way. That could be someone I love. The Apostle Paul cautioned if you’re going to correct someone to do it gently unless you be tempted by the very same things. Love must always be the goal. Forgiveness is a part of Gods love. Not perfection. Mercy is a beautiful Godly attribute. But I also believe in boundaries when serious matters are taking place that could bring harm. So I want to be very clear that I am in no way condoning behavior that harms people without loving boundaries being in put in place. More than anything it’s a heart position and how we view people. Do we look down on them for their weakness or can we see how heaven sees the big picture? And I want to be very clear I know nothing about Jeff’s personal life. I’m only commenting on what was said at the funeral.I know there were challenges. 

RIP Jeff. Thank you for all you gave. I didn’t know you personally but I definitely knew you by the Spirit. Your big picture was beautiful. I’m thankful I was able to witness all the outpouring of love and testimonies of the countless lives you impacted. I sat under you one time and enjoyed it. I will always honor Gods true ministers. #Salute