How Do I Judge

And He told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not the abundance of his possessions.”  Luke 12:15

Looking back to my boyhood days I do not remember this being a problem.  I never remember making a judgment about a person based on their job or where they lived. But of course most of the people I knew lived around me, attended the same church and they all had about the same in possessions and our homes and income was very much alike.

After I entered the Navy I became aware of this judgment and it has been difficult at times to not judge my success on the size of the church, salary, and so many unimportant things.

For many years I always considered myself a failure because I had so little compared with others.  By the way ladies, be reminded that many men judge themselves by their salary and success.  How large the home is they provide for you, the ‘things’ they are able to purchase and all the other things that in time will not matter and in fact will be left behind. Help them overcome this, and to understand that your love for them is not in things, power, and positions but in whom they are and how they love you. No one on this earth can do this so well for a man as his wife; you are his dream for living and you hold such great power in this journey of his life.

It has taken me almost a life time to learn this truth, to be able to accept myself for who I am and to whom I belong and not by the ‘toys’ I have gathered in my journey.

Now a note from a child I taught, a person I pastored, a friend I have walked with is worth more than all the bank accounts and all the ‘things’ life has gathered around me. I am a blessed man to have met and been a part of so many people and their lives both in joy and sorrow. After all I live and serve in Byrdstown that makes life beautiful. Thank you Lord.

Ivan