Stop Judging

20 Jun

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”  (Mt 7:1-5)

On any given week, there are upwards of fifteen “judge” shows on television like Judge Judy.  It’s amazing that these shows are so popular.

Then again, maybe not so amazing.

After all, we spend a lot of time judging others, don’t we?

We judge people on their appearance, on their nationality, on their skin color, on their height, on their weight, on their geographic location, on their political persuasion, on their sexual orientation, on their — well, I think you get the picture.

“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.”

Jesus was quite serious about that.

He was serious about everything He said.

We need to remember that, if we do not want to risk a harsh judgement, we must not judge others harshly either.  There are always circumstances about which we know very little, if anything at all, that may make our judgment entirely false.

FAITH ACTION:  Have you been very critical of someone or judged that person harshly?  Rethink your position.  And, perhaps, make amends.