“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”
Romans 2:4 (NLT)
Paul is shifting into God’s judgment of sin, but first, he has to deal with our judgment of it. When we hear this list of sins in Romans 1 and judge another for committing them, we are inexcusable. We practice sins from the same list we use to judge others. Furthermore, the sins we notice in others are often the ones we have taken hold of and allowed to grow in our own lives.
We are fools for thinking we can escape God’s judgment when we commit these sins in Romans 1 yet accuse others of them. When we judge, we are trying to be God. We think that by tearing somebody else down, we can build ourselves up. But we are the creation, not the Creator. When we compare ourselves with another creation of God, we choose the wrong standard. We’re looking down instead of looking up.
That’s the key verse 4 points us to. We despise, reject, and ignore the riches and depth of God’s goodness, His tolerance, and His patience toward us when we judge others. Dwelling on God’s goodness, greatness, beauty, and love leads us away from sin towards repentance. We must look at the standard Jesus set for us as the God-man: how He lived, how He talked, and what He did. When we look at Jesus, not others, we are called forward into God’s standard for our lives.
Today, I pray that we would trust God to handle the judgment and not look to others as our standard for living. Instead, let’s dwell on God’s goodness, patience, kindness, and love toward us, displayed through the life of Jesus. As we allow Jesus to be our destination, guide, and friend, we can become more like Him each day. Instead of judging one another, we can love, encourage, pray for, and teach one another. Wouldn’t that be so much better?