In this thought-provoking episode, Cherri Campbell delves into the essence of mercy and the transformative power of love. She explores why judging others hardens our hearts and how embracing compassion can create a softer, more forgiving perspective. Through a blend of scriptural insights and personal testimonies, listeners are encouraged to evaluate their own actions and cultivate a heart full of mercy.
Good morning. Welcome to Victorious Faith. I’m Cherri Campbell. This morning, I’m going to continue sharing with you the message that I’ve been sharing with you for the last several broadcasts that I preached in one of our Victorious Faith services called What Love Does. So join me now on our live service for part four of What Love Does. Judging other people. The Lord showed me this one time as I was studying and the Lord, Holy Spirit spoke it to me. Judging other people hardens your heart. When you make a negative, critical, fault finding statement, it is harsh. And therefore, it’s a hardening of your heart, not a softening of your heart. But having mercy and compassion softens your heart. We want to soften our heart toward people, not harden our heart toward people. We are commanded not to judge others, criticize or accuse, but to have mercy. Everybody say mercy. Mercy. Matthew 7 verses 1 and 2. Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. And with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6, 37, do not judge and you will not be judged, not condemned, you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Romans 2, 1 and 3, you therefore have no excuse. You who pass judgment on someone else, for whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself. Now, notice the line condemning yourself. yourself because you who pass judgment do the same things. Like I said, you might not have done exactly that, but you’ve done something like that. So if you are speaking critical and judgmental of them, then you have just spoken judgmental of yourself. So verse three, when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them, yet do the same things, do you think you’ll escape God’s judgment? Romans 14, four, who are you to judge someone else’s servant to his own master? He stands or falls and he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand. Verse 10. You then, why do you judge your brother? Why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. All of us. And James 4.12, there is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor? That means… Let’s all say this together. Love sees no evil, hears no evil, thinks no evil and speaks no evil. That means nothing evil, which the word evil is old English. Modern is bad. Bad and evil are the same thing because in the Bible it was good and evil. Now it’s good and bad. So love sees no bad, hears no bad, thinks no bad, and speaks no bad. We just need to put a guard over our lips, as I believe the psalmist said, or Proverbs, that put a guard over my lips. Help me watch my tongue so that I don’t say bad about anybody. It’s zip your lips. If you see it, you close your eyes to it. You don’t look at people’s faults and weaknesses. I mean, okay, don’t go to the extreme and say, if you see a crime, yes, you report to the police. You know, that’s not to be mentioned. You know what I’m talking about. But this is seeing the faults and the weaknesses and the errors and the shortcomings of people. Love overlooks it. Love does not see it. Okay, let me give this example. If you’re a parent, you have children, you know they have faults, right? or if you’re married and you have a spouse, even if you’re not married, you have parents, right? You have to. You wouldn’t be in the world without parents. So everybody can fit in there somewhere. And those that you love, you know them really well. And yet you know what their weaknesses are. And yet you just overlook it. It’s something that you just learn. You don’t pay any attention to that. That’s just one of their weaknesses. But you are just going to always cover that, overlook it. Why? Because of love. Well, we learn to do that with everybody, not just the closest people to our heart. But with everybody, we overlook the faults in others. Let’s say this again. Love sees no evil. Now let’s change the word evil to bad. All right, let’s say it again. Love sees no bad, hears no bad, thinks no bad, and speaks no bad. Now that’s what love does. And that’s a good rule of thumb. Just, okay, how would I walk in love in this? Just remember that. That’ll help you to remember what love does. Romans 12, 14 says, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. One definition of bless means to speak good. Definition of curse means to speak bad. So that when you bless people, you are speaking good, right? When you curse people, you’re speaking bad. So whenever you speak bad to somebody or about somebody, you cursed that person. But whenever you speak good to them or about them, you have blessed them. Speak only good, no bad. All right. I want to, I feel, let me say this again. Go back to the screen. Bless. We are to bless others. Blessing is speaking good. So we want to bless people all the time. You go into the grocery store, you see the clerk is tired. Bless them. Speak a good word. You see people in the grocery store, people at work, people in the hallway, wherever you are, bless. Speak good to people. Make it a practice. Just like in the morning, okay, today I want to speak good. Everybody I can run into, meet in the hallway, on the sidewalk, in the store. I’m just going to say something good to everybody. Make it a practice and then make it a lifestyle. Praise the Lord. Number five, love is merciful. Love is merciful. Mercy is the opposite of judgment, accusation, and condemnation. Is the opposite of judgment, accusation, condemnation. Matthew 5, 7, blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. Do you realize that there is a prerequisite requirement for getting mercy? What is it? Being merciful. And people who cry out, Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, have mercy on me. But they have never shown mercy. They never sowed mercy. I like to think how much mercy is in your mercy bank in heaven. How much mercy is in your mercy bank in heaven? How much mercy have you sown to others that you’ve been merciful to this one and this one and this one that you’ve stored up a stock of mercy in your mercy bank that when you need it, it’s there. You get it. You can get mercy whenever you need it. But people who don’t show mercy, their mercy bank in heaven is empty. There’s nothing to come back to them when they need it. So ask yourself how much mercy is in your mercy bank in heaven. Blessed are the merciful. There is a requirement for getting mercy. It’s being merciful. Luke 6, 36, be merciful just as your father is merciful. James 2, 13, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. And I want to back up to this scripture that we read here. You condemn yourself in Romans 2, verse 2. At whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself. If you feel a lot of condemnation. Now, condemnation comes to everybody. It is the result of sin. condemnation comes and guilt come because of sin. However, as you grow in the word and you grow in the revelation of righteousness, then as you grow in righteousness, you know that you can be washed in the blood of Jesus and cleansed by the blood. The Lord spoke this to me back in my twenties. And as a teenager, I always loved God. I was born again when I was three. I studied the Bible in elementary school, had read through the Bible. I was part of a girls’ ministry in church where we read through the Bible. So I read through the Bible with the group. I was called to be a missionary at the age of 12. I had no desire for anything, but I was still plagued with guilt and condemnation. I lived in condemnation. And one time a word of prophecy was spoken to me, pointing out part of my call. But in the same prophecy, it says, and get rid of the condemnation. I mean, God had to speak to me in prophecy, get rid of the condemnation. Because I just felt I don’t read the Bible enough. I’m not good enough. I don’t pray enough. And yet I love the Lord with all my heart. So I had condemnation just like everybody. But I had to get a revelation of righteousness. God told me, you have more faith in the power of your sin than you have faith in the power of the blood. to wash your sin. And you need to get faith in the power of the blood and get a revelation of the blood and the washing of the blood. So then once I received that and I received the washing of the blood by faith, Lord, I thank you. I’m just washing the blood. Forgive me. Thank you, Lord. Forgive me. Wash me in the blood. Then I received the cleansing and I got free. from condemnation and you can live mostly free from condemnation. When you mess up, the devil bring condemnation back, but be quick to repent, wash in the blood, get your righteousness robe back on again. And so you can live free from condemnation. So some people live under condemnation because of no revelation of righteousness. And no revelation of the power of the blood to wash your sins away. But there’s other people that live under condemnation because… And this is another cause for condemnation. If you feel a lot of condemnation, check up on yourself. Do you accuse and condemn or criticize others a lot? Some people just have a critical spirit. Everything they see that’s too dark. That’s too light. That’s too bright. That’s too hard. That’s too soft. I mean, some people just find fault with everything or with almost everything. Well, that kind, if they’re pointing out people’s, they did this wrong. They did that too much, too little, too dark, too light. Then if they’re pointing out criticism, they will live under more condemnation themselves. They will feel more condemnation because when you are giving condemnation, you are also reaping condemnation on yourself. Those who show mercy and they live a merciful, forgiving life. Forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive them, have mercy on them. I mean, I have practiced driving on the road where you get mad at somebody who cuts you off. And I say, Lord, I forgive them, have mercy on them in Jesus name, because I know I need mercy in my mercy bank for the next time that I do something. So I’m storing up. I’m thinking of this. I’m thinking of the mercy in my mercy bank. Do I have enough? And I want to sow mercy. Lord, have mercy on them. Lord, I forgive them. Have mercy on them. Because I know the next time I do something wrong, I’m going to need mercy. And I’m wanting to make sure that I have mercy available to me. What you just heard was part four of a message that I preached in one of our victorious faith services called What Love Does. Join me again tomorrow as we will continue this message. And remember, God loves you. You are blessed and highly favored by the Lord.
