Christ is Our Judge
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me
1 Corinthians 4:3-4
The apostle Paul did not judge his own life, but he let Christ be his judge. We should pray that our Christian life is pleasing to God, then if not, we pray he will change us. If we judge our Christian life, we may use the power of our own justification. To be certain that our Christian life is pleasing to God, we must ask the Lord to be our judge,
The first work of the Holy Spirit is the conviction of sin. If we pray that the Lord will identify anything in our life that is not pleasing to him, and we will be convicted by the Spirit. Conviction by the Spirit motivates us to seek forgiveness and for the Lord’s help to overcome. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (Romans 8:1) We never condemn ourselves when we fall into sin, because condemnation can kill our motivation to overcome through the power of the Lord.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13) When we are convicted by the Spirit, we ask the Lord for his strength to overcome. We can always overcome when we desire to overcome, through the power of God.
Sometimes we ask the Lord if there is anything in our life that is displeasing to him, and he will guide us in the Spirit to change us, once we have changed, we will realize what was displeasing to him. This is what the Lord did for me; I asked the Lord if my faith was pleasing to him, and a year later My faith changed, and I knew my faith was now pleasing to him. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) If we lean not on our own understanding, but fully trust the Lord in all things, then our faith is pleasing to him.
Like Paul we should always ask the Lord if there is anything displeasing in our life, and if there is something displeasing to him, we ask him to change us. Since our flesh is part of the world and craves things of the world, how can we be unbiased in judging ourselves? We let the Lord be our judge, and pray for his judgment.
To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me in my seat, even as I overcame and have sat with my Father in his seat. (Revelations 3:21) This is a powerful verse that can motivate us to overcome the Spirit’s conviction with power of God. If we are motivated to overcome and ask for the Lord’s power to change us, we will be victorious.
Today pray that the Lord will change anything in your life that is not pleasing to him. Everything the Lord helps us to overcome, he will make us more like Jesus.
Prayer: Lord if anything in my life that is not pleasing to you, please change me and make me more like your Son. In Jesus name, Amen