The following verse was written about Jesus.
"And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth..." Isaiah 11:3,4
Most of us judge a person by what they do and what they say. Some of us think we are great judges of character, but honestly, we're not. We simply don't have enough information.
"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7
God judges by seeing a person's heart. What is their intent? What childhood and background did this person have and how did it affect his actions and thoughts?
I've written about my grandson, Craig, who died one night after drinking too much. He also had a trace of cocaine in his system. He lay face down on a sofa and smothered. He was 21, and a young man full of emotional pain.
I have said I believe my grandson was saved by Jesus because in his heart he wanted to live better. He wanted to tell teens at high schools not to go on drugs, even though he was doing them himself. He told his brother he wanted to one day have a wife and kids and he wanted the same for his brother so they could always be close and their children grow up together. He was attracted to what was good.
At his funeral, we were amazed by how many people he helped in his short life. People came who had been in elementary school with him and told us of how Craig had helped them - with school work and also coping with life.
But there was a dark side to Craig, his pain also made him lash out at people. He did some really bad things. He told me once, "I regret so many things I did." But the problem was, he kept doing them.
Well, the point of me writing this is that one day this year, I was on a Christian site and a man there took a dislike to me. (How is that possible?) lol He read my post on Craig and came back to the Christian site and said, "This woman believes drug addicts will be saved!"
The church I grew up in would probably say that a drug addict would have to change before he could be saved. But since our standing with God is not by our works but by our belief in him, I do believe people who are doing wrong will be saved because as the Scriptures say, God looks on the heart. It is our heart we will take to heaven with us when Jesus comes. If our heart loves what is good, (even if we can't do it) we will be very happy in heaven where all is good and beautiful.
My grandson had a friend who wore spikes around his neck and arms and was pierced on his face. He wore black all the time and I guess some people would be afraid of him. But he was one of Craig's nicest friends. His father was a Hell's Angel and had beaten him all his childhood. All of Craig's friends either had no fathers or mean ones. When you see a young person who looks scary, remember that God sees his childhood and his heart.
Let's not judge people by what they do, what they look like or what they say. Let's leave all judging to God. Only he is wise enough to judge a human heart.
