In three words, blunt and absolute, Jesus commanded us, "Do not judge." But did he really mean that we should never judge others? He goes on to suggest that it's not the act of judging but the attitude with which we do it that God is most concerned about, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged."
Judgment is an
important piece of work that God calls us to do, especially in a world going morally haywire. Common sense suggests that if no
one ever judged other people, there would be no real human community. In a
sinful world, no community can exist for long where nobody is ever held
accountable. No citizen would sit on a jury or call a failed leader to account.
And, when you come to think of it, nobody would ever forgive anyone for wrongs
he/she had done; we only forgive people for what we blame them, and we blame
them only after we have judged them.
We have a moral responsibility to judge the moral behaviour of others but only if we are humbly aware that we will sometimes be dead wrong and never totally right. We must remember that our ability to judge is limited and especially that we are not perfect people who will ourselves, one day, come under judgment.
Jesus warns his disciples against following the traditions and practices of the Pharisees, who judged others as if they themselves were beyond judgment. Do not be like the Pharisees. Most likely, Jesus meant, "Do not judge at all if you judge others the way the Pharisees do. If you do judge people this way, you will be judged with the same severity." Jesus' intent comes out in his metaphor of motes/twigs/splinters and beams/logs. We all have beams/logs in our eyes, so to speak; to judge people for the little motes/twigs/splinters stuck in their eyes while we have big beams in our own is devilish arrogance as well as folly.
Let's not try to fix but to love. "Let the one who is without fault be the first to cast a stone." - Jesus Christ
We have a moral responsibility to judge the moral behaviour of others but only if we are humbly aware that we will sometimes be dead wrong and never totally right. We must remember that our ability to judge is limited and especially that we are not perfect people who will ourselves, one day, come under judgment.
Jesus warns his disciples against following the traditions and practices of the Pharisees, who judged others as if they themselves were beyond judgment. Do not be like the Pharisees. Most likely, Jesus meant, "Do not judge at all if you judge others the way the Pharisees do. If you do judge people this way, you will be judged with the same severity." Jesus' intent comes out in his metaphor of motes/twigs/splinters and beams/logs. We all have beams/logs in our eyes, so to speak; to judge people for the little motes/twigs/splinters stuck in their eyes while we have big beams in our own is devilish arrogance as well as folly.
Let's not try to fix but to love. "Let the one who is without fault be the first to cast a stone." - Jesus Christ
Ashley Mwanza
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