On Judging and Being Judged

"Judge not, that you be not judged" - Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:1

It is a harsh reality of life that due to the pain of personal injury in the form of unjust judging sustained often, we become wary and gun-shy to engage too much with some people. It keeps us standing at a distance in relationships when God wants us to know and be known. It results in many people living in a relational desert rather than a lush landscape of friendships; a dead-end of isolation rather than a network of connectedness.

Being judged wrongly feels horrible doesn't it? You know the truth about yourself (or at least your view of it) and then someone comes along and knocks down your house of cards. Pain, anger, indignation, hot resentment, shock and tears and denial are all common responses. All human. All understandable.

Isn't it interesting that we can't remember how it feels to be judged wrongly when we inflict our judgment on others? Immune to the previous pain, we go forward with abandon, measuring out infinite verdicts unrestrained; spraying to all fields, we rush headlong into the error of our ways.

Why do we live with a double standard - allowing ourselves to judge freely but thinking it strange and out of place when it happens to us?

There is a truth that ought to keep us from ever judging anybody wrongly: the truth about ourselves; where we have come from, the grace and mercy we have received in Christ that covers all our sins. It works perfectly with God, but with us who don't see the whole picture, things are different. It's actually a good thing we aren't all-knowing. Basically, if you knew me like I truly am you would judge me more harshly than you already do. If I knew you the same way I would think worse of you too.

There is always back-story, stuff that only God knows that if we knew would give us the perspective necessary to be generous with acceptance and stingy with judgment. It would make us discerning, not condemning.

Mankind seems to be on a continuous quest to prove to himself that he is able, self-sufficient, self-reliant. Whether survival shows or cooking competitions, we want to prove that we can do it - all by our self. But the truth is that we are deficient, we are not adequate, we cannot be God. God alone is God and we need Him desperately. The human spirit is strong, yes, but it is a reflection of the glory and image of God, not something that we generate; merely a reflection of the God who made us.

If we could simply grasp the immensity of God's grace and the enormity of our sinfulness; that Jesus was judged for our sin and that we go free due to His condemnation, we could live with so much more grace towards others. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom. 8:1). May we live in that truth and show it to others.