Judging Others

It's been a long time since I blogged on here. I've had a lot of changes in my life. Job. Health. Finances. Pets.

One thing that has been weighing on me lately is the concept of judging. By that I mean, judging others.

All of my life I have been taught that it is wrong to judge anyone for any reason. Matthew 7:1 tells us "Do not judge". But I read on, and it's the whole scripture where we are told not to judge, for we will be judged in the same manner. Then it goes on to say, don't point out the spec in another person's eyes until you remove the 2X4 from your own eye.

Is that verse really telling us NOT to judge? Or is it telling us TO judge, but to make sure that when we judge, we can expect to be judged in the same manner in which we judge others.

For example, cigarette smoking, we ALL know is not good for you. If I see someone smoking that I know and love, I can communicate with them my concern. TO me, THAT is a judgment, but it is done out of love and concern. If I go to that same person and humiliate and degrade them for harming their body, THAT is also judgment. If I do this out of love and concern, that person might understand, and although they might not quit smoking, they will know that I care. When they see that I care, THEY are judging me, in the same way that I went to them. ON the other hand, if I go preachy on them and degrade and humiliate them, they will tune me out. They will just think of me as an insensitive oaf with dung for brains. They have in turned judged me in the same way I judged them.

No let's go just a little bit deeper. When God Judges Me, will he jump all over me for judging others? Or will God say that I had love and concern for my fellow man, and that the occasional judgment was okay?

Are we really NOT to judge? Or are we to be compassionate, truthful and loving in discerning when and where to speak our mind? If we judge out of goodness, will we not then be judged out of goodness? If we judge out of condemnation, will we not then be judged out of condemnation?

The scripture goes on to talk about removing that beam from your own eye before pointing out the spec in another person's. What if we have removed a beam or two from our vision, are we not then able to help another person remove something destructive in their life?

I think I'm on to something. Judging in itself is not wrong. It is the nature in which we do it. Pointing out something in someone's life that is destructive or problematic is not wrong, especially if we have been there before. Again, former smokers no what it is like to smoke, but they have quit smoking, and many want to help others quit smoking. Is that so wrong?