You know what i've been realizing more and more lately? How some people focus so much on the petty things in life and ignore the bigger issues.
Christians especially. They can judge a person so harshly by their external appearance and whether or not they drink or smoke and they forget all about the heart underneath. From my personal experience i find the tattooed, smoking people to be very genuine and open and the people covered in modest clothing from top to toe to be the most harshest critiques. You may throw around the cheesy quote "don't judge a book by it's cover" but in all honesty, the religious people do that most of all. The people who claim to follow the Bible can be such hypocrites. The people who are supposed to love those from all different kinds of backgrounds, all different kinds of skin colour, all different kinds of appearances, and all different levels in their individual walk with God, can do the complete opposite.
I'm speaking from experience here. I write a lot about such topics, judging people, and i speak about it a lot because it makes me really mad to see 'Christians' push people away and condemn them because they happen to swear or they struggle with smoking, or they have tattoos.
There's more important things to focus on.
How many blogs and YouTube channels out there do you get on women's appearances? Modesty. I'm not saying that women who have blogs or YouTube channels primarily speaking on modesty is wrong but for most young, female bloggers out there to only speak about modesty? I mean, there's more for young women to focus on other than the fact of wearing skirts is more holy than wearing pants. What are you doing in those skirts or pants? Are you helping the needy? Are you feeding the hungry? Clothing the naked and doing whatever you can, going out of your comfort zone, to restore someone's dignity?
That's what's important. Not how much flesh your covering up or how long your hair is.
I say this because i'm sick of people judging other people so harshly, purely based on appearance and meanwhile their neighbour or someone in their congregation needs a roof over their head and they can't do it? Seriously?
Why is modesty so emphasized for women and not men? Most modesty videos i watch they focus about 2 minutes on the guys and the remaining 8 minutes on women. Modesty teachings need to go in my opinion. Yes, modesty is important for BOTH men and women, don't flash your flesh around and don't dress in a sensual way. But if i want to wear shorts that go above my knee to swim in or if i want to wear a tank top when hiking then let me be. I refuse to believe that guys are so sensitive to knees and shoulders that they utterly can't control themselves when they do see that bit of flesh. If you do struggle with a woman wearing casual shorts and a t-shirt on a casual day but instead she has to wear looooong skirts and looooong tops just to cater to your sensitivity then you have issues. I've met men who are normal. Who don't require women to dress according to such standards in order to not lust after them. So i know those guys exist and that's what guys should be like.
Modesty teachings can do the exact same thing that the world does. Make women into sex objects for men's pleasure alone. I have legs, i have arms, they're not sexy unless you make them to be in your own mind.
I really don't care if a person swears, drinks, smokes, has tattoos or piercings. You know why? Because no where in the Bible do you see God pointing these issues out and making it into a weighty matter. I used to be very offended when a person swore. How dare they? But seriously, it's not worth my time and effort to get offended and be upset with that person.
Is swearing a sin? No. You don't see it mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Sure it's not nice to hear and i utterly do not condone swear words to be directed towards any person. But if a person lets a 'bad' word slip out of their mouth for some reason ... there's no reason to blow it up and now think that person is just an utterly horrible, bad human being.
Is drinking a sin? No, not at all. Everything in moderation. Obviously you don't go now and get drunk just because it's not a sin. But if a person wants a glass of wine with their dinner or if someone wants a beer then why not? My brother drinks. When we go out to a nice restaurant he'll order a drink and that's it. Something to fuss over? Nope. It's a drink. I personally do not like the taste of alcohol. I've tasted many different drinks including some pretty bright coloured ones but i hate the taste of it all. Whisky? Probably one of the worst flavours i've ever tasted. A Savanna is nice but not something i'd drink for pleasure. But i still want to try Amarula.
Is smoking a sin? Nope. It's not the best thing for your health but no reason to condemn a person. I know a Torah observant man who's very zealous for God but he just so happens to smoke. Do i criticize him? Judge him? No. Because it's his heart that matters.
Are tattoos and piercings a sin? Obviously i believe that piercings are perfectly alright and i've been studying up on tattoos lately to understand the Word in context and not believe something just because everyone believes it and it's something that i've grown up believing because of my parents or pastor. The more i research the more i lean towards the fact that tattoos are bad only if you get it to honour the dead or a pagan idol. I know people who love God and keep his Torah who have tattoos. When i see their heart and their desire to follow their King i honestly don't see how some ink on your arm can change that. How God is further away from you because of that. It doesn't seem like God's character.
Everything in moderation. There's a difference between having one drink and getting drunk, having a filthy mouth or just saying the odd swear word because you're upset, having tattoos:
And having tattoos:
The weightier matters of Torah are helping the needy, honouring people and treating them as equal and not oppressing them. That's what's the Torah is all about. Treating your fellow man with respect and dignity in your home, in your business, and just in general. Surprisingly a lot of people don't do that and i'm learning all about that in this stage of my life. How people can sit down for a Shabbat meal and praise God for everything that He's doing in their life but they can't be friends or help a person because he's/she's black. Does the amount of melanin in a persons skin define how you're supposed to treat them? You're following Torah, you're claiming to follow the God of the Bible, the God of Israel, you're supposed to be a light to the NATIONS. The many nations out their, not only to the white people. So really, don't sit down for a Shabbat meal when you can't even invite your workers to join you because they're black.
So be careful when you judge a person on their appearance because you don't know what their heart it like beneath.
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