Don't let them judge you

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. – Colossians 2.16-17

People are terribly quick to judge and Christians may be among to worst about it. We find all kinds of reasons to judge and condemn each other for almost anything. I think especially of things like holidays since that is what Paul seems to have in mind in this context.

It reminds me of what Paul wrote in Romans 14:

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. Romans 14:5-6

We need to be in the word of God. We need to measure our lives according to His standards. We need to make sure we are using our liberty to love each other. We need to make sure that our actions won’t cause a brother to stumble. We need to make sure our hearts are right.

But we don’t need to let others judge us by their human standards. We can’t let our liberty be a chance to serve the flesh, but we can’t let others rob us of the grace of God in our lives.