Genesis 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

I always looked at Adam’s hiding from God as a matter of shame. It was always seen by me as a matter of being caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I knew better and I got caught. Then this morning I had the opportunity to look at it with fresh eyes.

Adam got a good look at himself and did not like what he saw.

Being exposed is all about how it makes you feel about yourself, not what others think about you. Adam had always been naked and it did not bother God. God’s original design did not include “the cover up”.

How I came to this new conclusion was found in a rather strong emotional reaction to the behaviors of others in Old Testament stories. My reaction said absolutely nothing about those characters, their behaviors, nor the outcome. It did however expose me to that mirror that does not lie.

It forced me to take a good long look at myself and why I should have such a strong emotional reaction to something that happened to someone else more than three thousand years ago. God allows us to be wrong in those moments to expose ourselves to ourselves.

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

There was no righteousness in my judgment. I allowed my emotions to take the judgment seat in my mind. I deemed, I judged, I felt and in so doing put my judgment before God’s.

Where judgment takes the lead, condemnation soon follows.

If I cannot allow Christ in me to judge every moment in my life, I will start acting out the condemnation that will surely follow. That affects how I talk to people and how I respond to the actions of others.