Judgement

Why do we insist on judging others when we all know that it is wrong?  The Bible tells us, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye" (Matt 7:3,5).

We are taught as children not to be judgmental and harsh with others.  We teach our children to "play nice" with others, indicating that we al know better.  I see a lot of adults who are harsh and judgmental towards other adults.

We all judge others, but why?  What purpose is served by passing judgement?  One thing we all get from passing judgement is the feeling of superiority.  Few of us will admit it, but the truth is, when we are looking down on someone else, it makes us feel better about who we are and the choices we make. We all have self doubt from time to time, and I have found that we judge the harshest, that which we have the most self doubt.  For example, if I doubt myself as a mother, I will judge other parents more harshly.

Judging others doesn't help them in any way, it certainly does not approach others from a place of love and compassion.  What we do get, is the feeling that we are "at least doing better than " others.  It is not right, we know it, but yet we do it.  Instead of judging others, we need to look into ourselves.  When we are feeling judgmental, perhaps we should take pause and look at our own self doubts.  Instead of judging others, we need to push ourselves to do better in our lives.

We need to start taking personal responsibility.  It is not the job of the rest of the world to make us feel better.  It is up to us to make ourselves feel better.  If you doubt your abilities as a spouse, then take time to talk to your spouse and figure out how to do better.  If you judge others parenting, look at your own and find a way to improve your parenting skills.  We can begin to use the judgmental thoughts we all have for good-as motivation to keep improving.

Sometimes, we judge because we truly see injustice and is upsets us.  Things like abuse, trafficking, war and hatred demand our righteous judgement.  The Bible calls us to judge things, but to still love others.  What does that mean?  It means if we judge something righteously, then we are called to take action.  Sure all these things offend each of us, but when we find that we are judging something even more than others, we need to stop and listen to our hearts, because it is in those moments that God is calling us to do our best works.

If we judge others for walking past the homeless, then we are being called by God to take action and care for the homeless.  Domestic abuse angers most of us, but if you find yourself really judging the abusers and those who stay, then take action for God is touching your heart and asking you to make a difference.

We are all created for a purpose, and I believe that it is in our deepest reactions, our truest, most honest moments that we learn what the purpose is.  When we are not safe, when we push ourselves to love more, to do better and to be  our best, we become living examples of Gods plan and love for the world.