Do not judge because I am the Judge, not you.
Do not judge because your quick judgement cuts you off from my flow of goodness and mercy.
Do not judge because I am the positive, creative one; your negativity cuts you from me.
Do not judge because you are not that smart; you see only in part.
Do not judge because your own experiences colour your sight.
Do not judge because you see men’s public failures, but not their secret victories, the hidden good they did, or the hidden evil they stopped short of.
Do not judge because you know nothing of people’s shaping, crippling childhoods.
Avoid those snap, imperfect judgements.
They shut you off from opportunities to learn, to see and to be kind.
Remain open. Ask me to let you see people as I see them–and as they really are.
Do not judge because your judgement is confining. People will find it hard to transcend it.
Do not judge because Satan is the accuser of the brethren, and you do not want to resemble him.
Do not judge. Keep your mind open in mercy; don’t snap it shut in judgement.
Do not judge, because this is an inexorable law I have set in motion: In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
As you wish for mercy, offer it. As you wish to be assessed kindly, do not judge.
* * *
But Jesus, assessing people is a life-skill. I would be a sheep among wolves if I did not know how to read people.
When you must assess people—look at the fruit of their lives. Their children are a testimonial; how they treat those less important than themselves; the peacefulness of their demeanour; how they respond to reverses, and to their enemies; the things they value; the tensile strength of their relationships.
* * *
But use your tendency to swift, harsh judgment as a means of growth. See if you do the same thing. When the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eyes bothers you, see if you have a plank in your own eye.
Ask my help to remove it.
So will you use your instinctive tendency to judgement to grow, and to transcend your own weaknesses (which, ironically, will, often be in the very area in which you so swiftly judge).
Invite me into your eyes so that you will be able to see people as I see them. Invite me into your mind, as that you will be able to read people as I do.
Read my new memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India (US) or UK.
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Funny, almost every time I have been cheated or conned out of money, it’s been by Christians. So I now try to be “as wise as a serpent” when it’s an issue of money changing hands. I like that observation in the Desiderata, “Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery.”
I used to trust Christians because they were Christians, but I now think that in financial affairs, it’s as wise to be wary of Christians as of anybody else and to exercise good judgement.
When you were cheated, did you call it out? Or did you just remain a silent victim? I’m curious because in calling it out, we have been accused of being un-Christianly judgmental. And then reading your post, I am rethinking the whole thing. I think about Jesus pointing at evil and calling it out, and of Paul’s recommendation to his communities when evil was afoot there, but then also the repeated call not to judge people…it’s really confusing.
I did not call it out, partly because of the stress that would have involved me in, and because it would have seemed like gossiping.
The correct way in church circles is probably to tell the pastor and let him take it from there?
Same here, Anita. But, I will not judge (or at least I will attempt not to judge). I will, however, be wise… 😉
🙂
A poignant post for me now as I struggle with 2 people at church who are likely con artists and have taken so much from people I love. On the flip side, many people were suspicious, but didn’t want to judge, so the two have run amok now for 7 years despite the suspicions. In an overly Christian attempt to not be judgmental, folks have suppressed their suspicions for years. My husband and I finally hired someone professional to look into them and it appears they are indeed criminals, play acting to gain sympathy (and more importantly money). When we reported this to our church, there were several people who accused us of over zealous judgment.
What’s funny is that I strive each and every day to be the least judgmental person on the planet. I always assume people who behave in a bad way do so because of a childhood trauma, or a painful relationship, or some kind of backstory that deserves my sympathy, not judgment.
So now, to read this, I’m again rethinking what we’ve done. Is it being too judgmental to call out base evil when it is staring us in the face?