Judge NOT?

I grew up around a wood workshop and my dad was patient enough to let me “help him” several times. I love pretty much anything that looks like, smells like, or is made out of wood. When I read Luke 6:41 for the first time, it left a big impression for I was well familiar with this distinction:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Judgment. It’s easy to judge. Studies say that people decide whether another person is trustworthy within a tenth of a second.
They decide our motives and even the root of our motives, too.

There can be NO LOVE when there’s judgment. And there can be NO JUDGMENT when there’s love. 
When we stop judging, we start to really love someone!

But the Bible does not just say to look at our HUGE PLANK. In Romans 14:13, we learn EXACTLY what to do:

“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.”

It’s not enough to care about our own “good standing” so that we won’t be judged. The answer is to stop ourselves from passing rash, harsh, condemning, and uncharitable judgment, and instead, to be there for people.

Can we  be less self-centered and think about what may be happening in someone else’s life before we decide to “press charges”? People are not always out to get you or misbehaving! They may be going through a hard day, hard week, hard month, hard year, even a hard decade!

As parents, we cannot afford to be neutral.We protect by “judging men by their fruits” to make sure we don’t allow the wrong influences around our little ones. We are also called to use fair judgment to lead our home. I also believe we must judge ourselves and that is what the plank-finding is all about.

When we must judge, in a non-fault-finding way, we must first have certain, complete, and clear grounds. We must know all our facts first, then prayerfully make our judgment coming from a place of love for truth and light, and of love for our neighbor.

I like how the Bible uses the story of the two mothers to show King Solomon’s wisdom. Here were two people claiming to be right and claiming to be saying the truth. King Solomon knew that the woman who would give up the baby to save his life was the real mother because of her love and selflessness.

There probably have been, are, or will be many moments in our lives where our wisdom is needed to make a fair judgment. Somehow, we are placed in a position where we must choose who to believe. And it may be two people or groups of people we really like, love, or resonate with. We may be tempted to not judge, to stay neutral. After all, it may be safer to not get involved: we think that if we don’t judge, we won’t be judged.

The problem with being neutral is that we cannot serve two masters, and, unfortunately, some relationships end with the resolution “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Let’s learn from Solomon to not be bystanders when we can stop injustice. Let’s remember that judgment can be good when it leads up to the greater good, when we are letting our love guide. Judge NOT out of bitterness or resentment, INSTEAD, use your judgment to make the journey a little easier for others.

[ela]