Friday Fight 20 - Definition without Description

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF20.

How many of us have unintentionally judged when we find out someone is unemployed, divorced, a recovering addict, or perhaps not vaccinated?

We all have labels that can define us: marital & employment status, generation, wealth class, or vaccination status. Unfortunately, by only looking at these labels and ignoring a person's heart, life, and story, we create a false identity in our minds, often unintentionally judging them because of this. In addition, each of these labels opens the door for division.

Definition without Description:

A definition of something is cut and dry, an objective meaning without one's perspective or opinion. Descriptions, however, involve characteristics, attributes, or events, a subjective point of view written with opinion. For example, we can say a person who has ended their marriage in divorce is now divorced, pretty basic—but just this label leaves no room to describe the circumstances. Perhaps the divorce was a result of infidelity or abuse. Suppose a young woman reveals to you that she is a recovering addict, and maybe an unintentional judgment develops. Out of respect, this young woman does not disclose that her deceased father was the one who introduced drugs at a young age. Are we judging the definition without the description? When we do, we may never see how amazing that woman truly is.

How does darkness work? We are all guilty of judging others based on their definitions before taking time to understand their descriptions. Remember, the enemy's goal is to divide, alienate and destroy. It can happen when we are too quick to condemn others without taking the time to understand their story. Our lives are changing daily, so we must be intentional about listening and offering grace, not judgment.

How do we fight? Be quick to offer grace and slow to judge. Through God, we find eternal value; through man, we only find external value. Let's take time to look at the description of a person's life before judging the definition of a label.

Matthew 7:1

Pastor Shannon

New Life Church