Judging
Others
The
Bible in Matthew 7:1 says “Judge not that you be not judged.” Yet how easy it is for many of us to judge others by our
standards. It is also very easy to think we know how others ‘should’
run their lives, that we know what is best for them.
Yet
when we judge and condemn others we target their self esteem and their
sense of self. Withholding our approval from them and judging them and
finding them wanting is like sending little daggers into their hearts.
When
we judge others, we say to them that they are not intelligent enough to
make decisions for themselves. We say to that who
they are, what they say and what they do is not okay, that there is
something profoundly and basically wrong with them.
Rather
than accepting people as they are and allowing them to be perfectly
themselves, we often judge and condemn them for who they are rather than
showing them love or trying to understand why they do what they do. What
gives us that right? Whether they are family or friends, they deserve our
love, not our self esteem-targeting judgments.
Nor
do we have the right to set ourselves up as the authority on how everyone
else ‘should’ live. We are responsible to and for ourselves and
others are responsible to and for themselves. We each have God and the
angels guiding us Who are we to say that others are not listening to God’s
guidance and following it, even though we may not understand what they are
doing?
1
The
next time you are tempted to judge another person, stop, take a look at
yourself and realize that often what we dislike in others are our own
disowned traits. Then get ready to own your imperfections rather than
judging others for having them. After all the God of love
does not judge us for being imperfect.
May
the God of love add a blessing to these humble words.
AMEN
©
2011 Rev. S. Suzanne Fisher