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How do you wish to be
judged by others? Everybody is a critic, but who wants to be judged negatively?
Judgmentalism is rampant, even among Christians. So how can we avoid this
poisonous sin and not be contaminated by the world's view of who is good and
who is bad? "Thinking the best of other people" is necessary if we
wish to grow in love. And kindliness in judgment is nothing less that a sacred
duty. The Rabbis warned people: "He who judges his neighbor favorably will
be judged favorably by God." How easy it is to misjudge and how difficult
it is to be impartial in judgment. Our judgment of others is usually “off the
mark” because we can’t see inside the person to their inner motives and
intentions, or we don’t have access to all the facts, or we are swayed by
instinct and unreasoning reactions to people. It is easier to find fault in
others than in oneself.
Jesus states a
heavenly principle we can stake our lives on: what you give to others (and
how you treat others) will return to you in like manner. The Lord knows our
faults, weaknesses, and sins and he sees everything, even the imperfections and
hidden sins of the heart which we cannot recognize in ourselves. Like a gentle
father and a skillful doctor he patiently draws us to his seat of mercy
and removes the cancer of sin which inhabits our hearts. Do you trust in God’s
mercy and grace? And do you submit to his truth about what is right and wrong,
good and evil, helpful and harmful for your welfare and the welfare of your
neighbor as well? Ask the Lord to purify your heart with his loving-kindness
and mercy that you may have ample room for charity and forbearance towards your
neighbor.
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"O Father, give
us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes
its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke. Help us always to praise rather than
to criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to
destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This
we ask for thy name’s sake.
