This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

I have lived much of my life feeling as if I was under judgment — judgment at home, judgment at work, judgment with friends and foes alike. This judgment was drilled into me at the church I grew up in. They focused mainly on all of the bad things we did, how we should try harder not to do them, and heavy doses of guilt were applied. Then, I experienced judgment later in my childhood. By the time I was 18, I was so used to it. I still dreamed, but I was always worried about the rejection that comes with judgment. So my dreams were withered and cut short. I think this is one of the major reasons many people I meet (and get to know) in life may keep their distance from churches and God in general — JUDGMENT! The problem with living under judgment is 1) it never goes away, and 2) you don’t get anywhere. And for many years of my life, I felt like I was taking two steps forward and two steps back. Then I realized I did not need to hold onto fear anymore, because I have been JUSTIFIED. No matter what anyone thought of me, GOD SAW ME as HOLY and BLAMELESS because I had decided to follow His Son, Jesus, and make him my Savior and my Lord (the master of my life). And this is the incredible transformation power of the above verses: 1) All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, AND 2) are freely justified by his grace that came through redemption by Jesus Christ.

So where are the “voices of my past” who judged me? Stand up, you people of judgment, and understand today: You who judged are sinners too. You who judged me … are broken too. We are all the same. Only God, through Jesus Christ, can judge, and instead of judging you and me, he has freed us from judgment by his grace delivered in Jesus Christ.

So to all of those past voices of judgment, I have this to say to you: 1) You were wrong in judging me, 2) you can be freely justified if you, too, will make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, and 3) I FORGIVE YOU by the grace God has used to forgive me! BE SET FREE!

Lord, thank you for this great freedom from judgment you have given me. It only makes me wonder where I would be, as the attached song says, without The Love of God. You are highly praised in my house and you get all the glory!