You judge by human standards; I judge no one.
Judgment. It seems to me like one of the most insidious evils. By judging others, or even judging ourselves, we act as if we KNOW what is good and right. But we don’t always know. We can’t.
Jesus reminds us of two things. First, we judge by human standards. As such, we cannot possibly know. We can’t know the circumstances of others. A woman I work with has a slightly rough edge. Recently, I found out her son has an undiagnosed significant mental illness, and has spent much of the past 5 years either homeless or in jail. We cannot know other people’s truths.
A gentleman I met last night was explaining that he’d lost his housing at a shelter, only to find a better option for himself. In this case, judgment could have been made that in losing his shelter housing, God was horrible or mean or uncaring. But something better came out of it. We cannot know God’s plans.
There are parts of my personality that I’d like to cut away. There are parts of my past I’d like to have not happened. But I cannot know God’s plan for those bits of me.
Finally, Jesus repeats that he judges no one. If Jesus, God incarnate, does not judge anyone, clearly I shouldn’t either. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that I shouldn’t be angry or action in response to the actions of others. I do not have to reserve judgment for bad policy or injustices. I just have to reserve judgment for the policy makers or actors. And even if I did, I’d be judging by human standards. I cannot know. God Only Knows.
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