Looking in the Mirror

Has God ever slapped you hard in the face and snapped you out of some sort of dismal fog that you've been in and not aware of for quite some time? No? Me neither-HA!  Just kidding.  He's done it to me several times in my life and most recently this past weekend.  It felt like one of those great dramatic movie scenes where the character is stark raving mad about something and can't control their emotions.  Someone has to step in and either throw cold water in their face or slap em silly so that they stop and just draw a deep breath and calm down. That was me.  And God was the one who intervened. 

I have been so hell bent on making sure that I am accepting of everyone who may be different or think differently than me that I failed to realize that I was judging certain "conservative" and "bible-beating" Christians just as I was accusing them of judging others.  Sorry if that's confusing.  But let me try to explain more. A few posts ago I explained that I considered myself a "liberal Christian".  I explained my reasoning behind that and the fact that I believe in a God who is loving and accepting of everyone no matter what.  However, my attitude started getting out of hand because I in turn would get very upset with people who didn't agree with me.  Well, if that isn't calling the kettle black I don't know what is.  But unfortunately I just didn't "get it" until this weekend.  Luckily I have a good friend who called me out.  But in a very nice and respectful way.  She gently reminded me that there will always be conservatives, liberals and everything in between but that we still need to try and live in harmony and not condemn one another.  She then guided me to Romans and a few verses that really hit home.  Here is one from that section:

12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

My way. Your way. I'm right. You're wrong.  I drink alcohol, you don't. You're republican, I'm democrat. I need to practice what I preach in regards to being accepting of EVERYONE.  That means even the super- conservative, Sarah Palin- loving- republican that I tend to disagree with.  We are all made in God's image and I think He would find my attitude very unloving.  So now that I've been slapped and had ice cold water thrown in my face I can now look in the mirror and change my bad attitude. :-)