Judge Not

Advent Devotional by Helen Schilke

“Judge not, lest ye be judged.”

—Matthew 7:1—

I knew they were going to be a problem. The mother was disruptive, and the child screamed like a banshee every time the mother was out of her sight. No matter how simple the learning task was, it went undone; books were unread, weekly meetings were missed.
My job was to prepare low income families to start their children into school, and this year few of the children spoke English. I struggled to engage this family in the process of preparing their child.
In frustration I said to my interpreter, “I don’t understand. Why won’t these people help their child? Don’t they understand how far behind she will be if she doesn’t even know how to write her name?”
In her gentle loving way, my interpreter said, “Maybe it would be easier for the mother if she could read or write Spanish. She comes from a very poor family. She only went to the first grade and never learned to read or write. She gets by the best way she can.”
I was dumbfounded! It had never entered my mind that I was dealing with total illiteracy. In her attempt to hide her feelings of inferiority, this woman had taken on an air of complacency when it came to my help.
I was not proud of my actions in this situation. I had judged before I knew the facts. I had not looked beyond the surface. This woman was a victim of poverty beyond anything I had ever experienced. Because she had not conformed to my expectations, I had judged her. I was unfair and ashamed of myself. Needless to say, the lesson stuck and now, with all my heart, I try to look beyond the surface to the heart of a person.

Prayer:
Creator of us all, help me to remember how blessed my life is. Remind me that there are others who are less fortunate than I am. Help me remember to look beyond the surface and see the whole person. In Jesus’ name, Amen.