By White Wolf (Phil Shapley)
Introduction
The Scriptures state that after death, we will stand before our Creator to be judged. How we judge others effects our judgmet. If we have done as He advocates, we will be assigned to the most beautiful place in the Post-Earth life (in the spirit world). Otherwise, we will inherit less, much, much less if we have ignored God and/or have been very disobedient.* Disobedient, unrepentant people will face harsh punishment.**
Judging people
Our judgment before our Creator will deal with many aspects of our life. Here we restrict ourselves to a very important part of our final judgment, how we judge other people. Among the Scriptures on judgment, are these:
Matthew 7: 1—“Judge not that ye be not judged”
John 7: 24—“Judge not according to the appearance”
John 7: 2—“With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged”
Romans 2: 1—“Wherein thou judge another, thou condemnest thyself”
John 7: 24—“Judge righteous judgment”
How we judge others has great implications. It might seem that the wise course is to not judge others at all. But this is not possible. We are constantly faced with situations that need judgment, such as how to treat or help a person, who should we or who should we not associate with……. Refusing to consciously make a decision about a person, means that you do not try to do what is best for him and/or yourself—the consequence of such is frequently much worse than making your best considered judgment. In refusing to judge, you have not considered the welfare of the other party or yourself which does not please the Lord—you have been careless with your agency, with the freedom of choice God granted.
You do need to not only seek the welfare of others, but also consider the effect of a judgment on your own righteousness. The Creator wants all people to obtain salvation. Thus, you must weigh how the proposed action effects you—if it is adverse, it may not be wise to ‘help’ another party. For example, you perhaps should not go into a bar with a friend who needs to talk, especially if it might put you into temptation.
There is one situation where we should delay judgment—when we don’t have enough information to make a good judgment. We wait until we have such. In the mean time, we let the person know that we are aware of them and care.
Sometimes when we interact with people, we unconsciously ‘judge’ the situation, such as a knee jerk reaction. In these cases, perhaps we are too insensitive or unaware to be conscious of the person or of his problems, or we have a psychological barrier, such as bad previous experiences, to seeing clearly. Though this unconscious ‘judgment’ frequently produces an adverse effect, the Lord may not hold us responsible when we fail because of the identified problems. However, He expects us to work to overcome these personal shortcomings.
The problem is how do we avoid unrighteous judgment—we are to judge righteously (John 7: 24). There are several approaches that will help:
Approach 1: Our goal should always be to help people without hurting our own salvation, such as disobeying an important commandment. We should never condemn a person unless this is wise. Sometimes tough love is required. For instance, the wise course may be to not give a drunk money because he would likely use it for booze—take him for a meal. If possible, you want to help him overcome his addiction. Or for a beggar, giving him money may hinder him from be coming self-supporting— search for a better way to assist him. Do your best to make a helpful judgment.
Desiring to help others is necessary for good judgment, but to judge without making some serious mistakes, we need additional assistance which is covered in Approach 2. The Lord still appreciates heart felt but faulty efforts— but please work to improve.
*See the paper on Forgiveness under Spiritual Basics on the bar. Read the footnotes.
** See the deep paper Basic Truths Behind Christ’s Teachings under Spiritual Basics on the bar.
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Approach 2: The Lord wants us to judge righteously—the judgment God would have us apply. To do such, we need to understand and apply the Creator’s teachings. Also, we need to be living well enough that we qualify for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and of our conscience so we know what the Lord would have us do or not do—the Creator knows what is wise. The point is to learn of the Creator and His ways, to live as He asks, pray and use the Holy Spirit to guide your action. Then you can exercise righteous judgment, seldom making a mistake.
Approach 3: Seek to overcome our psychological barriers and become sensitive to the needs of others—pray for help and live as the Lord asks—righteously, read the scriptures, ponder and pray. Then you will do good.
You must never completely condemn a person, assume there is no hope for them—this in God’s view, is unrighteous judgment for the Lord is always hopeful a person will repent—many do. When a person has a serious problem, you still need to do what is appropriate, including using tough love, to possibly help him or her overcome. But a drunk or a thief is still such until they change but where possible, help them to do such.
Above all, we need to be living a righteous life so we can be as helpful as possible. Our goal must always be to appropriately help others, as guided by the Spirit. We need to pray for people and always forgive offences but this does not mean we trust them, especially when they have been untrustworthy.
Personality traits that interfere with good judgment
When we are insecure or have low self-esteem, it can be hard to see matters clearly. In order to protect our weak ego, we frequently:
- to build ego, we condemn those that don’t live as we do or aren’t like us;
- sometimes we set false standards which we live but others don’t, and thus, we feel that we are better than they;
- we become prideful, gossip.
To conquer our weaknesses, we need to feel the love of God which greatly assists in overcoming low-esteem. Then we can love others which enables us to see matters clearly and have the guidance of the Spirit. That is, we need to live the Two Great Commandments (love God with all your heart, mind and soul and love others as you love yourself (see the paper on Forgiveness under Spiritual Basics on the bar)). As we do such, we can judge wisely.
Judging how to live life
Following the principles taught above will help you make good decisions in respect to your life. You are most likely to succeed if you live the Two Great Commandments, live the Gospel and pray for help in decision making.
Conclusion
We need to be inspired by the Spirit if we are to judge well. To do such, follow the counsel given above. When you judge righteously, the Creator will look favorably upon you.
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