Some people like to go around saying we must not ‘judge’ others’. Years ago you would not hear that so much, you’d just know’ judging’ was wrong. What’s bothering me is that I’m hearing people so quick to criticize someone in the most innocent circumstance and claim the other person is ‘judging’. I’ve been a victim of this, maybe you too. They take a comment re: a job, a city or whatever and twist the words to make it sound like some judgement about a person or group has taken place, one that’s is clearly so unintended.
What is sad is these ‘morality’ police are taking it upon themselves to be a sorta watchdog on morals without ever really caring to know the people they criticize. And when asked, they have no real basis for attack cause they have no morality they believe in. They do know the Bible has a great cornerstone verse …. ‘judge not, that ye be not judged’ …. and they enjoy using that fear of God’s Word to make it seem others are guilty of judging. People are often so stunned after being attacked, they don’t even know they are being sorta set up! This kind of spiritual attack really shuts up honest people, it shuts down any kind of honest relationship.
Truly honest people know that we ‘judge’ when we think critically, or assess what action to take. We gather facts and use our minds, hearts many times thru the day to assess what’s going on in and around us! When Jesus said ‘judge not’ he meant we aren’t supposed to judge someone’s heart or character. God know god is the final judge.
Jesus told us to judge a tree by it’s fruit or…. assess a person by the life they lead. Do they love others? We don’t tell a person they are judgmental because of one single thing they might say. We give people a grace space, we don’t judge someone based on a general chat about some lite matter.
We are always assessing people whether they are trustworthy with our money, children or government. We notice their faithfulness with people or their own loved ones, their diligence or wisdom. Judging fruit isn’t the same as judging someones heart. We need to judge privately but sometimes we need to assess someone by their fruit publicly, like when we decide who to vote for, or when we expel a student for carrying a weapon to school. Judging is an important part of life.
So of course we ‘judge’ people …. in our private lives we have to make judgments about people …. the best person to marry, if our kids are lying to us. We make very deliberate decisions about people or situations we’ll come into contact with thru the week. We have to …. we need to ‘assess or judge’ what our needs are in a bank, new car …. what’s good for our kids, body or country.
It’s risky to judge/assess certain public figures, or trendy social issue on any media if you don’t know enough of the story. It’s important to keep your rules of conduct fair for one and all. People will brand you a hothead, hypocritical, people pleaser or whatever if you blurt out negative judgements about a persons character instead of talking about their record, constant behavior. We need to be sound of mind if we call ourselves Christians, we need to think before we speak alot of the time. I have to remember sometimes I’m not home in front of my own TV when I write an entry. I don’t want my things to sound flip, careless or not researched.
Mostly we pass judgment on a person or situation based on what we think is a moral right or wrong we think they’ve committed. And if we’re honest, some of us pass judgement on people for their personal lapses in taste or life style. We take things out of context, we get so irate they could ever say such a thing and in turn just stir up more anger webwaves. A hair do, dress, etc …. are not what God wants us to assess a person by, but some have gone off the deep end to make moral judgments on a person because of their style rather than how much they’ve stayed true to the people they love or are in charge of!
For sure, God is the Judge …. not us! He’s been watching us since birth & He’s going to judge our hearts based on all His personal data on us. He knows the real truth. I ate at a restaurant recently where I thought the waiter was on speed …. I was a little afraid for him being so strung out, but I didn’t judge him, I don’t know what he’s going thru. We have to always keep our ‘knower’ vigilant and clean. There are real divisive forces out there wanting to bring us down, and picking people apart is not going to help us. There are serious issues we need to address in our country ….ones more important than making fun of someone, cause we think we ‘know’ them.
Our hearts aren’t meant to try to get into another’s head, it’s such a waste of time to get into that rut! We can assess privately whether a person is real or not, but when we go public we should get more facts. Don’t expect people to always like you, try to be your real self. Most aren’t concerned if I lost the best son, they’re out for themselves. Don’t worry about impressing others and writing something you don’t really mean, it has a way a catching up with you. People are looking for someone trying to be real in this mad world!
Marc knew that, he didn’t go around pointing fingers at people for their looks or words. He minded his own business and gave thoughtful responses to things. He didn’t laugh when a person seemed to make a fool of himself …. he smiled when things worked out well for him. He was sad about our climate of criticism, hate and ignorance. What a great attitude he had!
Quench The Urge To Judge. You cannot draw conclusions as long as there is missing information. Things are never as they first appear. Reserve judgment. Never attempt to explain, or penalize someone for actions you do not fully understand. – M. Murdock
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