2 Samuel 12:5 - Righteous indignation

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die!

Nathan told David a story of injustice. David was angry, but Nathan tells him, "You are the man!" (v.7) because of his affair with Bathsheba and murder of her husband. Sometimes we get so angry at something we think is wrong, when the truth is we have done so much worse. Righteous indignation is rarely right.

Lord, thank you for helping us to see our flaws. Please help us to remember our own sin before pointing out the sin of another. Amen.

1 Corinthians 5:9-10 - Tolerance

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.

In this passage, Paul is telling the Corinthian church not to associate with someone who claims to be a brother or sister in Christ, but does not attempt to live like a Christian. In verse 12 Paul says, "What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church."

Lord, please help us to be tolerant of those outside the church, showing only love and kindness, not judgement. Amen.

Romans 2:1 - Passing judgement

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

In general I think of myself as a tolerant person. I accept people where they are, regardless of their life choices and I hope they will accept my choices as well. But the ridiculous thing is that as grand as my ideas are, it's the little things that trip me up. I get angry at my husband for being careless. I get frustrated with co-workers who don't do something exactly as I would do it. And there is more...but you get the idea.

Lord, thank you for speaking the truth to us. Please help us to not be judgemental. Amen,

Romans 14:4 - Who are you to judge?

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Not everyone's faith is the same. Just because someone believes a little different from me doesn't mean they are not a servant of the Lord. If they are willing to listen, we can share our truth, but we need to be prepared to listen to them share their truth as well. Each servant will stand or fall independently to their master. If they belong to the Lord, they will stand, regardless of the differences in the way we believe.

Lord, thank you for having a relationship with each and every one of your followers. Please help us to be coworkers with fellow believers, regardless of our differences. Amen.