As I walked in the door of a pilates class my friend brought me to, I confidently scanned the room and made my ASSESSMENT.

The average age in the class was about sixty-years-old.

I thought, “NO sweat…I’ve got this!”

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

The instructor (old enough to be my mother) looked me up and down.

I guess she was making HER assessment.

“Okay ladies,” she announced, “we have a NEWBIE! So I’m gonna take it EASY on you today.”

What? Take it easy? Are you KIDDING me? I’ve never taken a Pilates class, but I DO work out!

No, really…I’ve GOT this!!!

I was wrong.

Well, it only took me five minutes to realize that I didn’t have ANYTHING!

These sixty-year-old women were KICKING my butt!!!

An hour later, as I was leaving the classroom (slowly and carefully I might add) the instructor SMILED and said to me,

“If you’ll come back, we can get that booty lifted back UP to where it SUPPOSED to be.” OUCH!!!

What just happened here?

My muscles were only sore for a week, but it took me nearly TWO WHOLE MONTHS to actually write this blog.

Nothing in my body was really hurt…except my PRIDE!

I had walked into a situation where I immediately JUDGED everyone else, then COMPARED them all to ME.

That’s two things that we’re NEVER, EVER supposed to do.

Judge Not!

Matthew 7:1 is very clear, “Do not judge others…” (NLT)

And yet, when we look at other folks and SIZE THEM UP compared to ourselves, that’s exactly what we’re doing.

· Just look what they’re WEARING!

· They can’t AFFORD to drive that!

· Can you believe all those TATOOS?

· Wow, she really looks OLD!

· They probably never even finished SCHOOL!

Hypocrite!

We tend to JUDGE people every day, but God warns us NOT to. Why is that?

“For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.”

Matthew 1:2 (NLT)

It wasn’t fair of me to PRE-JUDGE those women.

So now I just hope that they don’t know I did that! At least until they read my blog…my cover is blown!

Time Heals All Wounds

After two months, I think my pride has recovered enough that I‘m actually kind of EXCITED about trying Pilates again!

This time, I’m going in with NO expectations.

Instead, I hope to walk away SATISFIED that I’ve had one of the BEST workouts of my life!

Who knows, I might even make a few new FRIENDS in the process!

Have you ever walked away hurt, defensive or adversarial because you came into a situation with a preconceived notion?

Has a judgmental attitude ever keep you from receiving something good?

Share with us, and help us all grow from your experience.