Actions speak louder than words...

"Actions speak louder than words."

Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. (NASB) Matthew 7:1-2

Do you believe that? The way we act is more important that what we say? I believe it..
Today i had this CRAZY realization..
In the bible it talks about how when you hate someone, you are considered the same as a murderer..

i know this sounds ridiculous, but when i am in public, or just doing random stuff and i see a person wearing something I think is ugly, or i see someone that is way overweight, or just random
stuff like that, i start to judge them..i keep it to myself usually, anyway i try to..
BUT, one thing that drives me crazy is when i hear people talking bad about other people, or gossiping about them... i have always had an issue with 'SAYING' something about a person that you couldn't say to their face.. i know, i know this is HORRIBLE!

So, as i was running on the treadmill, i saw a person walk by that was overweight, and as i was thinking.."maybe if she would just workout, she wouldn't be 80 lbs overweight." I KNOW I'M HORRIBLE! but, i'm being completely honest in this post.. i do it, i think almost EVERYBODY does it..

we judge people because maybe it makes us feel better or its just the way we grew up.. judging other people.. not all of us voice it, but some of us do.
So usually when ever i hear people talking bad about other people i just get completely disgusted and annoyed and think.. HOW CAN THEY SAY THAT?

well here was my revelation.. i felt like God waked me in the back of the head and said "WAKE UP CARI!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? You get so upset with other people for voicing their thoughts, but here you are thinking the exact same thing, you're just keeping it to yourself. BUT IT'S THE SAME THING! If you think it, its just as bad as saying it out loud.."

Yea, lets say i felt horrible.. i never thought of it that way. I always thought other people were in the wrong, and I was right because i wasn't actually saying it out loud. but now i realize that in God's eyes, its all the same.. thoughts are just as bad as actions or words.
So, after hearing God speak to me like that, for the next 30 minutes i made myself pick out a GOOD thing about every single person that walked past the window.. even it was just like.. wow awesome backpack, or nice shoes, or cute jacket..

and can i just say, I FELT AWESOME! It is so much more fulfilling to be encouraging and pick out good things about people than to pick at the bad things, or think the bad things. People who think they have to pick the bad things out of people to make themselves feel better must be smokin something strong because it is SO WRONG!

I encourage you to really pray about this.. i think this is something that EVERYBODY struggles with. Today as i walked to my first class, i saw a girl talking about a guy hitting on her and how awesome it was because he was a really nice guy, and the first thing that came to my mind was.."wow, she isn't very pretty, but i guess there is someone for everyone." CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? these thoughts are like a really nasty poison.. thinking thoughts like that just break people down and hurt them, and i have no idea why we do it.. [that thought was prior to my revelation]

I will be doing some serious praying for God to continue to work in my heart, to take those thoughts out of my head, and to help me start replacing them with positive thoughts, like 'I am so happy for that girl, that she has found possible love.' it is so much easier to think the positive things about people. I'm sure people have looked at me and thought all sorts of crazy stuff, and it hurts to think that maybe they have broken me down in their heads the way i have some people down..

My prayer this week:
God, soften my heart, open my heart, and get out all the horrible stuff i think and feel. I know that You are the only one that should be judging. I know it is not my place at all to judge people, or assuming things. God, please help me to always assume the best about people. God, please cleanse my heart and mind of any thoughts that are not pleasing to you. Thank you for the strength you give me every day to love people that need to see your love. AMEN!