Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 44But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
Luke 2:41-49
This has been something God has been hammering in my head and I finally feel okay with sharing. For a long time and still here and there, I found myself judging folks. I’ll be honest, it has a lot to do with upbringing and what I saw others around me doing. The type of Christianity I learned and saw was one where if someone came in church "dressed inappropriately" we looked and pointed. When I went to college, the church I attended then really helped me to see how I was being more distracted with people than with seeking after God. So it was actually in college and probably a direct result of prayers I prayed that the chasing after God bug bit me and never let go. I’ve grown and matured in my faith, but I recognize some lessons are merely going to be tested and retested, as we are not perfect and can always regress.
So over the past few months, God has been saying this one thing — that other people’s lives are none of my business — over and over. And I thought it pertained to other people I was praying for because I typically don’t keep up with anything. I love y’all but I don’t read everything y’all post 🤷🏾♀️ and I don’t keep up with celebrity gossip. I’m actually pretty lame now lol. I remember I used to make mixtapes in college and after because I knew all the latest rap music (sophistirachet 🤩). Now I can’t tell you what is on the radio (don’t get me wrong I still love Jeezy lol). But all that to say, I’m usually in the dark because I just don’t care. Now if you bring something to me to pray for you about or God drops you on my heart, I’ll reach out, but it’s never to keep tabs because I’m usually off in space. In the simplest of terms, I don’t care. I don’t care because I don’t have time to police other people’s lives. I don’t have time to tell people what they are doing wrong because I want to get myself together and continue evolving into the woman and mother God desires me to be. I don’t have time to tell you how to live because I’m hoping that by being who God called me to be and staying in my lane, I fulfill everything He sent me here to do.
God elaborated on that by saying other people’s relationships, their past, their sexuality and lifestyle choices, how much money they make, what they do with their money, why they are sick and every possible thing I could think of — you guessed it, is none of my business. I understand why now though. One of the ways we get caught up in religion is by getting caught up on what can be quantified or easily identified. The religious spirit tells us that we are better Christians because our sin doesn’t look like that person’s sin. We get focused on diagnosing sin in the lives of others so much that we miss God’s cues and His voice speaking out to us to love that person or fail to recognize when God is working to produce the fruit of the Spirit in us. It is so easy to get caught up into analyzing someone else’s life. I’m guilty of this, especially when it came to forgiveness in the past or when I didn’t understand why things happened to me and not to someone I thought was more deserving of the outcome. I tried to understand why people did what they did as a warped way of justifying forgiveness. I also argued with God when things happened to me that didn’t happen to people I thought were more deserving of things or whose behavior deserved some consequence. And in that, I allowed religion to tell me to focus on the shortcomings of others rather than looking to God to work on me and mold me into the person needed to accomplish His purposes.
So now, I don’t occupy myself with other people’s business. I don’t bother digging into people’s pasts or interrogating them. I pray for people when led and I try to repent whenever I catch myself being judgmental. I’m seeking to be more like young Jesus who knew what his purpose was and sought to do it even then. So I encourage you, stop minding other people’s business and get after God’s business. One of the most valuable lessons I learned is that we don’t have to understand to obey. Do what God said!
Life Inspired By God 