A New Type of Judgment

Scripture: Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:5

Observation: I noticed this in a passage a couple days ago, but see it clearly here again: Judgment is an activity to be embraced - not feared - by faithful believers.

This goes against conventional wisdom and the human instinct to seek acceptance and fear judgment. However, for believers, judgment means God has 'drawn near' to us ... that he has entered into our situation, and we are in his loving presence. When that happens, there is no mention here that God will sort through our innermost fears and secrets and call us out. Instead, he will be a witness against sorcerers, adulterers, liars, oppressors, and others who don't follow his commandments.

Application: Talk about being different! Everyone in society fears being judged, and oftentimes believers fear the judgment of God ... going so far as to claim that fearing God's judgment is actually a sign of faith, and if you don't fear that judgment maybe you don't actually believe in God or in his sovereign authority in your life.

However, this passage would claim that judgment is not to be feared. And if we truly believe in Jesus - and the fact that our faith in Jesus washes us clean and is the one quality we require for eternal salvation - then there is truly no judgment to fear.

This concept goes beyond judgment of God, and extends to the judgment of others. We must not fear the judgment of others because the criteria they use to judge us is meaningless. Does it hurt my feelings when someone judges me? Yes. However, if they judge me and find me in alignment with them, that may be worse ... it may mean I am aligning myself to the ways of the world and not to God. In some cases, such as my attitude toward marriage, I should also welcome judgment, because it likely means I am not conforming to the world, but being transformed by the words of Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, I wish to be different. I wish to be so different that people judge me and find that I am not like them in attitude or behavior. Some will hate me for that, but that is okay too. May I turn away from judging others, and open myself freely to judgment from others, so that someday I can revel in your judgment. Amen.