Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 186
TRANSCRIPT
Can you imagine sleeping in a boat in the midst of a life-threatening storm? As we know Jesus did just that. How could He be so at peace that He could sleep in a storm that the disciples thought was going to kill all of them? The easy answer is that He was Jesus, God in the flesh. Yet He was 100% human just like you and me. In this podcast, I am going to talk about the storms that are raging all around us and how we can experience that kind of peace in the midst of the storms.
I am Lee Whitman with Restoring the Foundations, and I welcome you into this Hope Healing and Freedom Podcast. Jesus taught a lot about peace. He was teaching about peace because He knew that we would struggle to experience peace on this earth. The year 2026 has started off with a lot of conflict that is permeating the atmosphere. These storms are with the weather, with people coming against one another, and with spiritual leaders. I believe all of these storms are affecting the spiritual realm as well.
There have also been storms in the Body of Christ caused by the failure of some very prominent spiritual leaders, which has fostered a lot of controversy in the Body of Christ. I am not going to talk about these specific situations. What I am going to try to do is calm the storms by giving some spiritual remedies.
I must tell you that what has happened in the Christian community with some of our leaders has really shaken me. Many of these leaders, who have made terrible mistakes, are people I have looked up to and admired for many years. They have created a great storm in the body of Christ. So, how do we handle ourselves when leaders make mistakes and let us down?
How do we handle ourselves when people in our country are acting contrary to what we think is best for our nation? I think the answer to both of these questions is the same.
The first thing I want to encourage us with is to try really hard not to judge those people involved. This is very hard to do. It is easy and, in some cases, natural to hear of a situation and immediately jump to conclusions and judge those involved. So, what does the bible say about judging? Matthew 7:1-5 is an often-quoted verse about judging. It says, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye?” 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye! This is so challenging. When we judge another, this verse says that by the measure or standard that we judge them, we will be judged. Simple, right? Yet it is really difficult to do. We have been conditioned by many factors to judge what others do. I think this is because while we are supposed to discern if behavior is right or wrong, we are not supposed to judge the motive or intentions for the behavior. I think when we look at behavior and question if it is right or wrong, that is something we do almost naturally. It is not a natural thing, however, for us to judge a person’s motive or intentions.
There have been several leaders in the body of Christ who have gotten into sexual sin. I have no problem saying that their behavior is wrong. But when we cross the line into judgement is when we try to determine why they did what they did. For by the measure, we judge them, we will also be judged. Most of our judgments are done by pure speculation or by innuendo. Neither of those are Godly motives. Unless we have been given first-hand information, the best thing for us to do is not to judge, but to pray for those involved. Our flesh loves controversy, and in the process, we could be drawn to the numerous podcasts that are making judgments about these fallen leaders. Or there are those who have judged the church leadership who “should have done more”. Unless you are walking in their shoes, I would encourage us not to judge them for what they have done or not done.
Once we have spoken our judgments, we have added fuel to the fire that the enemy can use to continue to destroy the body of Christ. John 7:24 is really good advice. It says, Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. “In our judgments of others, we are to show mercy. James 2:13 says, “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”
So, are we not to make any judgments whatsoever? I believe that we are to judge behavior but not judge the person’s motive. When I was in bondage to my addiction to pornography, I hated what I was doing, but I felt powerless to stop. My behavior was horrible. My heart’s desire was to stop, but at that time, I did not know how to. So, if someone were to judge me and say that I must not want to stop my addiction because I continued to act out, they would have been wrong. I needed mercy and not judgment.
A sobering fact is that our judgments, the words we speak about another person, are actually strengthening the spiritual powers in the kingdom of darkness to cause more strife and turmoil in that person’s life. The words we speak in judgment of others will also come back on us, being used by the enemy against us.
If you recognize that you struggle with being judgmental, never fear RTF is here! When we look at judgments from an RTF standpoint, there is a high probability that someone who is quick to make judgments may have inherited a generational curse of judgment from their ancestors. This generational curse puts pressure on them to be quick to make judgments about others. If you are hearing this and realize that your entire family is quick to make judgments, that making judgments of others is a sporting event in your family, then you might be under the generational curse of being judgmental. We have been given the power and authority through applying the cross of Christ to these generational curses to cut off their pressure from our lives. If you need help breaking this generational curse, please go to our website at restoringthefoundations.org and contact one of our highly trained ministers in your area to schedule a ministry session.
Another important way to gain more freedom from judging is to deal with Ungodly Beliefs that might be causing you to judge. Many times, we inherit Ungodly Beliefs from our family, who are operating under the curse of being judgmental. For example, many families are raised with Ungodly Beliefs like “Don’t ever question spiritual leaders.” Or “You must trust everything the spiritual leader says and does.” Both of these lies can and will allow spiritual leadership to go without any accountability. It is not uncommon for spiritual leadership to operate without having checks and balances in their lives, without having people they are accountable to. This leads to a potentially dangerous situation for the leader and for the people who are under their authority. Leaders are people just like everyone else. They have been given a higher calling to lead the body of Christ, but they are just people who have places where they are vulnerable. They need accountability as well as people who will walk alongside them to help them achieve the calling God has on their lives. When they become untouchable, that is when they are the most vulnerable to the temptations of the enemy.
Another weapon used by the enemy to bring about judgements are word curses. Word curses are words spoken about another person, judging their behaviors and motives. As I have said, it is okay to judge behavior, but not by speaking about others’ behavior to friends and family. When we judge a behavior, it should be done between you and God in prayer. A common tactic of the enemy is to get well-meaning believers to “share” a concern about someone with others under the ruse of wanting to help them. We see this often in a prayer group. Someone will share that Mike and Suzy are having problems in their marriage and explain what the problem is. To pray for Mike and Suzy, you don’t need to know what the problem is. God knows and all we need to do is to intercede on their behalf. We can so easily get into a Christian form of gossip by sharing too much with others.
Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment, you will condemn.” I love this verse because it puts the power back in our hands. We have the power to condemn judgments that have been spoken against us, but we also have the power to condemn judgments that we have spoken against other people. And when we condemn those judgments, the weapon formed against us or others does not prosper. We don’t realize how powerful our words are. Listen to these powerful words from James 3:8-10. “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the image of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”
The bottom line of this podcast is to be careful how we handle the events that are going on in our world today. I must confess that I have spoken words of judgment about some of the things I see going on in the body of Christ and in our world. I want to be part of the solution by speaking words of life into those situations and not words of death. Will you join me by speaking words of life not words of death.
Father God, I begin by repenting for the words I have spoken in judgment. Will You forgive me? I ask You to make me aware when I fall back into judgment. Help me to speak words of life into our fallen spiritual leaders. Help me to speak words of life into the conflict that is happening in our world today. Help me to speak words of life into our government.
Thank you for joining us for this version of the Hope Healing and Freedom podcast. We look forward to being with you again next week.