Have you started taking responsibility? I remember when I was little and my mother gave me some money to buy fish from the market. When I got to the woman selling the fish, I couldn’t find the money I was given. Guess what happened when I got home? My mother was angry and scolded me for losing the money.
Why do you think my mother was angry? Was she right to be angry? The answer is “yes”. It was my responsibility to keep the money well. It was in my possession and I should have kept it well. I was trusted to keep it safe and get what I was sent.
Responsibility means doing what is expected of you and accepting the consequences for either doing or not doing these things. This means that as a child, there are things you are meant to do, say or keep. Things you will be responsible for. And as you grow older these things increase in size and time.
“Each person should judge his own actions. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Each person must be responsible for himself.” – Gal. 6:5 ICB
The bible verse above says that you are to judge your own actions, check if you are proud of what you do and that you should be responsible for yourself. In other words, are you proud that you are responsible or not? Judge yourself.
May the Lord give you enlightenment about being responsible. Amen
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I open my heart as I learn about responsibility. Help me to keep my heart open. Amen.
Action point: Ask your parents what your responsibilities are if you don’t know them. if you do, as the bible verse said, are you proud of your actions?
What is God’s stand on judging others? There have been times when you have been so quick to judge someone without thinking before you do so. Within seconds you form an opinion of them. But Jesus warns against the dangers of doing so.
“Don’t judge other people, and you will not be judged. Don’t accuse others of being guilty, and you will not be accused of being guilty. Forgive other people, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37 ICB.
You see one of your classmates with a dirty uniform and quickly you call him or her “dirty”. Well, you might not say it to their face, but in your heart you say it and it shows on your face too. You look disgusted and act snobbishly towards the person. You don’t know what happened to the person. He could have slipped and fallen down hence the dirty uniform. Or he could have been attacked by a group of bullies who roughened him up.
Or you have a classmate who fails terribly at school in exams and tests. Calling her dumb and “empty head” is judging her based on her academic prowess. You don’t know what’s happening at home with her parents. Probably she doesn’t have time to study at home because she helps her mother at their little shop. Unlike you whose parents are not selling anything!
The bottom line is this – don’t jump to conclusions about people because you don’t know what happened to them. That’s why Jesus warns that you shouldn’t judge people.
May the Holy Spirit give you a heart that loves instead of judging. Amen
PRAYER: Lord, help me not to judge others in Jesus’ name, amen.
ACTION PLAN: Watch your words and thoughts the next time you are quick to judge others.
Today is Oil For Today – Day 140. Let’s lift up our voice one more time as we pray to God! Watch Video on Youtube HERE. Check other days HERE.
Scriptures For Today
Oil For Today – Day 140
Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
1 Chronicles 16:12 NKJV
Prayer Points For Today
Oil For Today – Day 140
Begin to recount the marvelous works of God in your life.
In the name of Jesus, I judge every force trying to keep me in Egypt, a place of bondage.
I declare that I enter into the fullness of the promises of God to me in the name of Jesus.
Today, I nullify every contrary voice that has been spoken into my life in the name of Jesus.
I judge the spirit sponsoring ‘that sin that so easily besets me’ in the name of Jesus.
You spirit of poverty, I judge you and cast you out of my life in the name of Jesus.
I declare that the spirit of infirmity will not take residence in my body in the name of Jesus.
Today, I declare that I have the power to make wealth; the works of my hand prospers in the name of Jesus.
Go ahead and dance/rejoice/laugh over those disappointments, for you are more than a conqueror through Christ.
Let’s begin to thank the LORD for answered prayers.
Confession For Today
Oil For Today – Day 140
Father in the name of Jesus, I judge every work of darkness in my life. I flush out every dark area with the light of God’s word. I receive light in my life. The light of God directs me. The light of God illuminates my path. I choose to remember the marvellous works of God. I choose to remember His goodness over my finances. I choose to remember His faithfulness in my relationship/marriage. I judge God faithful that He will bring that which He has promised to pass in my life in Jesus name, Amen.
As we continue in this series, we will look at another aspect today – “pray for yourself.” You know it’s very easy to judge others. You see them doing something you perceive to be wrong and bam! You find a word to quickly call them maybe out loud or in your mind. Your face even shows it even if you don’t say it.
That’s very natural. And God being merciful will give His Holy Spirit freely to you. The job of the Holy Spirit is to quickly and lovingly show or tell you some things.
One, the Spirit of God will tell you how you have acted like the person you are judging immediately. He shows you the many instances you have acted like them. That you are not any different from them. It is when this reality hits you that you will know you need to pray for yourself.
An example of this is when prophet Samuel told king David a story about a man and David was so quick to judge the man in the story. But when he realized he has acted like the man, he broke down and prayed. Learn to pray for yourself.
Another thing the Holy Spirit will do is to lead you towards repenting and asking for forgiveness immediately as well. He wants your remorse at the stage. And it is not a good thing to try and argue with the Holy Spirit.
Don’t try to say how different you are from the person or how the circumstances are not the same. It is the Holy Spirit you are talking with. He knows all things. He knows the minds of all men. He knows your thoughts, past, present and future. Just break down and pray for yourself.
Thirdly, He will reveal to you the probable reason why the person is doing what they are doing. He wants you to understand so you can empathize with them. This does not in anyway mean He accepts what they are doing. No! But He only wants you to not commit the sin of judging others thereby causing yourself to be judged as well. When He shows you this, it also makes you pray for yourself, so that you don’t fall into the same thing.
Finally, He could show you other ways you can help this person out. Apart from praying for them, He could show you what you have that they need and that you can give them. For instance, if you noticed a classmate who cheats during exams, you could pray for them and offer to teach them some school work after school hours. That’s what the Holy Spirit would want you to do.
Judging others does no good to anyone. Not to you or the other person.
May the Holy Spirit watch over your thoughts, words and actions. Amen.
Prayer: Sweet Holy Spirit, show me my faults. Brood over my words, thoughts and actions in Jesus’ name, amen.
Action point: Listen to the prompts of the Holy Spirit anytime you feel like judging someone, and pray for yourself.
The power of a genuine prayer for something to happen or for someone to change can never be overrated. Instead of judging your friends, pray for them. Prayer is one mighty tool to use to create the change you want. In its purest form, it touches the heart of God and moves His hands to do the miraculous. And God always listens to a prayer said on behalf of someone.
When God hears your prayers concerning somebody, He listens. So pray for them. It is called intercession. When you intercede on behalf of someone, asking God to help them have a change of heart, He loves it. This is because God loves it when people change from being bad to good. That’s why He sent Jesus to die for us all
Instead of judging someone, pray for them. Speak to God about them. Ask God to help them see the errors of their ways and stop doing every wrong think they are doing. Give them your prayers instead of judging them.
Your prayer is a cry for mercy to God for them. You are telling God to look upon them with mercy and not on their wrongs.
Instead of the punishment that they should receive for their wrongs, ask the Lord to forgive them and make them new again in His sight, just like Jesus cried on the cross, asking our Heavenly Father to forgive us all. Learn to ‘pray for them.’
Pray as often as you can as the bible encourages to pray always.
Prayer is like preparing a bowl of stew. You first gather your ingredients, get the pot and fire ready and start the process. It takes time to prepare the soup and the process has to be followed if you want the stew done and ready.
Continue to pray and believe God will bring a change in them. Don’t forget our anchor phrase this morning – ‘pray for them.’
May the Lord bless you as you pray for people. Amen.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, fill me with the urge to pray for others instead of judging them. Help me to continue to do this, in Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
Action plan: Who is the first person you think you should start praying for? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you.
