I’ve been thinking a lot about his “I have a dream” speech these past few days.  In it, he says”I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”.

 I think that MLK, Jr. is an amazing person who changed our world.  But, I think he got it wrong here.  God has been convicting me lately that judgement of anything BY ME is not acceptable.  So, while judging by the color of skin is wrong….so is judging by content of character.  Only God really knows a person’s heart.  I say this because I’ve recently been in a tiff with somebody who I believe gossiped about someone very close to me.  I decided that what this person said showed me her character and I was not interested in being her friend anymore. And then, it hit me.  By holding her to a standard, I was raising the bar for myself.  And, I am guilty of gossip.  I have tried to reconcile my feelings by saying “But, I would NEVER have said something like that….”.  It doesn’t matter.  Gossip is gossip.  I also justified my unwillingness to forgive because I never got an apology.  Well, Jesus has something to say about that:

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Ouch.

The bottom line is, Jesus died for my sin.  Jesus also died for this person’s sins, too.  So, what right do I have to hold a grudge?

 I reached out to her and I’m not sure how it will be recieved.  But, I decided that it doesn’t matter.  My identity is not dependent on what she or her friends think of me.  The important thing is that Jesus changed my heart toward her – I no longer carry the burden of my negative feelings for her.  It could be that we are never friends again, but Jesus is to be praised in this situation!