IT'S A VERY SMALL THING
1 CORINTHIANS 4:3-4
1 CORINTHIANS 4:3-4 NKJ
3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
I went to Disney World in Orlando just a few years after it opened. It was 1973. They had an exhibit there called It's a Small World. Had a theme song that went with it that would absolutely get stuck in your head; it's a small world after all . . . That's merely a random thought and has nothing to do with this passage except one thing, small.
Paul said that with him it was a very small thing to be judged by these Corinthians or by anyone else for that matter. In fact, Paul said he didn't know of anything he was doing wrong, but the Lord was the One who was qualified to judge.
This attitude had to free Paul from the worry of what other people thought of him. That is a wonderful place to be. Free from what others think. Concerned only with what the Lord thinks. People are going to judge us, but it's a small, small thing.
APPLICATION
To me, this has always been a great goal. To consider other people's judgment a small thing. I can't say I have arrived, but I am making progress. How can we get there? How do we get to the place where what others think is not our concern? Again, I will go back to what we express. Expression makes impression. We can tell the Lord that we trust Him as the only wise judge and that our primary concern is pleasing Him. Then we move our thoughts off people and what they may be thinking. Or what they may have said.
If you have thought this way for years, you'll have to practice. But I don't believe this position is unattainable. With the Lord's help, we can get to the place where people's opinions don't carry near the weight the Lord's opinion does. What He thinks is big to us. What others think is small.
PRAYER
Help me, Lord get to the place that the judgments and opinions of others is small, and You are the greatest voice in my life by Your word and by Your Spirit.