Judgement

I wasn't sure what to even title this one, but, I guess that's really pretty immaterial.  One of the hardest things about being a human is our desire of wanting to judge others.  We're all guilty of it, no matter how hard we've tried not to be judgemental, at some point in life, we've all done it.  We judge people based on race, religion, sexual orientation, previous history, rumors and so many other things.  It's unfortunate that we do it, because it usually ends up causing damage to everyone involved. 

It's hard for me to think that I've been guilty of judging people based on things I've heard, things I've seen, and many other reasons that still do not justify judging.  The reason that I find it so hard that I'm guilty of it, is not because I think I'm any better than anyone, not that I think that I'm so sort of "holier than thou" christian, but because I know I've been unjustly judged by people and it hurts.  People have judged me based on things that other people have said, things they've overheard, even judged me simply because of a miscommunication or misunderstanding.

That's made me become more sensitive to me trying to judge people.  I have a lot of areas in my life that need work, and I know that.  If people were to judge me based on the things I need to work on, they'd probably think that I wasn't much of a christian at all, because people judge based only on outward appearance.  I've learned that things aren't always as they seem and until I have all the facts about a situation, a person, the best thing for me to do is to keep my mouth closed, which isn't always easy.  I have a friend who has a quote on her refrigerator that I keep in the front of my mind every moment, "Lord, put your arm on my shoulder and your hand over my mouth!"  That is so true.  When we begin to talk about things that we don't know about or we begin to spread rumors and gossip that we've hurt, we're intensifying and multiplying what is probably a bad situation to begin with and that doesn't do anyone any good.

The other thing I've learned about casting judgement on others is that when I'm wrong, wow, it's a hard thing to do to have to go to someone and apologize for your words and/or actions.  That's sometimes a tough pill to swallow.  That's been something else that has helped me become less judgemental.  I've found that one of the best things I can do is to pray for that person and that situation, that helps more than anything.

I understand that sometimes our judgement comes out of anger, disappointment, and many times just total misunderstanding and again, we've all been guilty of that.  But I want to challenge all of us to be more like Christ and to remember that even though things seem a certain way, our vision isn't always perfect.  He encouraged us to pray one for another, even when a brother or sister is in sin.  While we don't condone sin, we pray for that person and ask God to help them, while remembering that if we're judging that person, we're committing sin in that act alone.

Let's be encouragers, workers together, and let's make sure that we don't judge people based on rumors, partial facts, he said she said deals, let's allow all those things to unfold on their own and pray for each other.