Giving Grace In A Judgmental World

One of the biggest ways that I have made an effort to better myself as a human being over the last few years is learning not to pass judgement on others. Granted, this has also been one of my hugest inner struggles, and I will tell you why. I have grown up in a world full of people casting all kinds of judgement on one another. By the time I got into Middle School, passing judgement on others, for whatever reason, became like second nature to me. I grew up around family members who were particularly judgmental on others, and associated myself with friends who judged our own peers daily. Once I got pregnant, I experienced a hard dose of my own medicine by being judged. I was in a situation where I couldn't really win either way in the "judgement" department. My decision to keep my unborn child resulted in people saying, "she's an unfit mother," whereas, if I had decided to do the selfish act of aborting my child, people would have called me a baby murderer. I lost my 80 pounds that I had gained from my pregnancy within a year, and people asked my friends and family if I was anorexic, yet people called me fat right after I had Sawyer. It's safe to say that I had this kind of judgement coming for me because of my "pre-baby" ways.

About a year ago, I did some serious soul searching and realized that I'm no better or worse than anyone else. The Bible clearly states that "we all fall short." Yes, I have made mistakes and will continue to make them for the rest of my life. The thing that I decided to start doing was instead of judging others for whatever the case may be, I focused on bettering myself. I realized that I cannot control the actions and wrong doings of others, but I can control what Chauncey says, does, thinks, etc. The other thing that I started doing, that has probably made a world of a difference is I completely stopped caring what other people think or said about me. I tell you, it is the most liberating thing in the world not giving two 'you know what's' about what others think about you, or what you do. I started being myself again, and just doing what Chauncey does best. I'm an insanely passionate person about health and wellness. I love coming up with healthy alternatives to not-so-healthy foods. I love running. I love a good glass of wine. I love taking selfies. I love shopping. I love working out. I decided that I am going to continue to do all of these things, while being the best wife, mother, friend, daughter, and sister that I can possibly be. I figured that if anyone has a problem with that, then thats something they can figure out. One of the keys to attaining happiness while living in this judgmental-natured world is to stopping caring what other people think about you, and just BE YOU!

This entry isn't supposed to be an attack on anyone at all, so please don't think of it that way. This has been a topic that has been weighing heavily on my mind and heart for a while now, and if anything, it is just me being able to get this off my chest in a healthy way. I feel like we could all work on being less judgmental in some form or fashion. I know I can still work on it. I saw an interesting comment made on a Facebook post that was made about Abortion. The post was a video basically showing what happens to an unborn child when the abortion process occurs. It broke my heart seeing that video, it really did. But underneath the video, a person made a comment that really opened my eyes, and heart. It said, "Give grace like nobody's business. None of us would be here without it." Wow. I mean really, Wow. I am in no way, shape, or form for abortion. I sob every single time I see one of those videos. But that comment that that person made truly opened my eyes to how quick we are to pass judgement on others, when we should be "giving grace like nobody's business." How can we possibly think that we have any right to look down on others, when God shows us his grace daily? That right there my friends is a question we all need to start asking ourselves before we begin to raise an eyebrow at someone's choices, because at the end of the day, God is the one and only judge.