Judging Convictions

If you know me well you know I try really hard not to judge. As much as I can I try to be understanding about the situation, person, etc in order to get an accurate view of whats going on, and for the most part I'm better than most people, but at the same time I'm not very good at it.

There's a person who i'm close to who suffers from chronic late disorder. Every sunday without fail he is late to service, and on top of that he is late to every meeting, and has the worst integrity. One of the most least reliable friends I have.

I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, maybe because I worry about him. Maybe it's because a sign of maturity is being punctual, or maybe I just hate liars or something.

But while I was brushing my teeth 15 minutes ago i realized that I am very blessed to have the convictions I do. I am convicted to be on time, I'm convicted to keep my promises, and to do the things i say i'm going to do, so how can I judge someone who doesn't have the same convictions i do?

I guess you can compare it to physical exercise. If i have the conviction to go to the gym everyday i'm not going to judge other fatties just because they don't have the same conviction (or resources) to get fit. In the same way i shouldn't judge my friend because he doesn't have the same conviction to workout his integrity, reliability and overall punctualness.

I guess in short, don't expect a lot from people, take time to understand where they're at, and when they do come out to church (as late as they may be) treat them well.

It's so easy to get mad at my friends for not revering church as i think it should be revered. But that makes me very grateful for my mother, who taught me that going to church is important, and it makes me sad that maybe my friend didn't have someone in his/her life to show him/her how important church is.