Christy,
Remember that God did not give other people the right to judge you. If you have a hard time writing sentences, it is not right for another person to make fun of you because they think your sentences are not as good as theirs are. God will not judge you by how good your sentences are. God judges our hearts. He judges us by how much we love HIM and how much we love other people. He does not judge us by how good our language or communication is.
I read this in "THE MESSAGE." It is a new translation of the Bible. (I'll give you the New International Version/NIV translation below it).
Matthew 7:1-5 (The Message)1"Do not pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. 2That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging [coming back at you]. 3It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious [blind] to the ugly sneer on your own. 4Do you have the nerve to say, "Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted [messed up] by contempt [sin]? 5It's this whole traveling road-show mentality [silliness] all over again, playing a holier-than-thou [proud] part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to [help] your neighbor.
Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV)
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure [judgement] you use, it will be measured [judged] to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust [the small sin] in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank [the large sin] in your own eye?
4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck [sin] out of your eye [life],' when all the time there is a plank [sin] in your own eye [life]?
5You hypocrite, first take the plank [sin] out of your own eye [life], and then you will see clearly to remove the speck [sin] from your brother's eye [life].
We are supposed to take care of our own sins. Our own faults. We are not supposed to go around finding what is wrong with everyone else. We do not know what is inside of other people's hearts and minds. We do not know what problems other people are having. A person who is NOT deaf can not know how hard it is for a person who is deaf (
which is NOT a sin) to understand how to communicate in sentences that they cannot hear. We (who are not deaf) hear words, sentences, and conversations all the time. Each time we listen to people talk, we are learning about language. This is something that you cannot hear and is not easy for you to learn. People who can hear do not understand how much that they are learning each time that they hear people talk to each other in conversations. We know how sentences work because we have heard people talk to each other since we were babies.
If I try to learn another language (like Spanish), I will learn that the sentences do not work the same way in Spanish that they do in English. I will sound silly to a person in Mexico when I try to speak Spanish even if I know Spanish words. That is because I will not make my sentences the way that I should. That is because the Spanish language does not work the same way that English does.
It is wrong to criticize other people. It is wrong to pick on other people. That is not our job. The Bible tells us that we should
"EDIFY" each other.
"EDIFY" means to encourage each other and help each other. We are hear to love each other. We are also here on earth to glorify God. To tell Him how much we love Him. We do no only tell God how much we love him by using words (and ASL), but we also tell him how much we love Him by how we live our lives.
We glorify God by loving others! Jesus told his disciples this in Matthew 25:
Matthew 25:34-40 (The Pharisees were talking to Jesus
34"Then the King [Jesus] will say to those on his right, "Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom [Heaven]. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. 35And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
36I was shivering [cold] and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37"Then those "sheep' [people] are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38-39And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' 40Then the King will say, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me--you did it to me.'
I am not even deaf but I am also learning that it is not important for me to get other people's approval. (Their "OK"). I am learning that if my focus (my aim) is for other people to tell me that I'm a good person, then my focus is wrong. I'm looking for the wrong person to tell me that I'm doing a good job. I'm looking for the wrong person to tell me that I'm a good person. My focus needs to be on God. I need to be looking for God's OK. I need to be pleasing God. If I am living a life that is pleasing God, then it does not matter what other people say about me.
In the New Testament, Jesus gave us only 2 commandment:
Matthew 22:34-40
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher [Jesus], which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets [the Old Testament] hang [depend] on these two commandments."
When people say mean things to you, remember that the reason for your life is not to make other people happy. The reason for your life is to please God.
~Sandy
