You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men)... 1 Kings 8:39 (NKJV)
Judging people’s hearts is a bad idea. We can’t pretend to know why people do what they do—only God knows someone’s thoughts and motives! However, we are allowed to look at people’s past behaviour when trying to guess what they’ll do in the future.
Judging track record is very different from judging hearts. You see, when you judge people’s track records, all you’re saying is, “This is how they’ve acted in the past, so I have to take that as a sign of what they will tend to do in the future.” When you judge people’s hearts, it sounds more like this, “I know why they did what they did.”
According to today’s verse, only God knows the hearts of men. We can’t pretend to know why people do what they do, and trying to make judgments about their intentions always brings pain.
The funny thing is, this judgment brings pain whether you’re judging people’s hearts negatively or positively. Assuming that someone meant to hurt you is a bad idea, but so is assuming that he or she meant well!
Let's say your 16-year-old daughter comes home and says, “I just met this guy and he’s amazing! He just got out of jail, but he's really a good guy at heart. He said he’s turning his life around. Please don't judge him."
The trouble is that she’s judging him positively before he’s built a positive track record.
Just because people say they’re going to change doesn’t mean they’re going to. I’m not saying that we should never give people a second chance, but just be careful. Trust always needs to be earned.
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