Judgment and Criticism

“It is not our job to fix people, change people, or judge/condemn people. It’s our job to love people. The rest is in God’s hands.”  I’ve seen this quote circling Facebook every now and then. I happened to see it today, on the tail end of a discussion with a friend about exercising judgment. We were talking about saying whether a person “should” or “shouldn’t” be doing something. I personally take the view that trying to decide the shoulds and shouldn'ts of someone else's action will only lead to my personal misery. My friend sees the shoulds and shouldn'ts as an opportunity for corrective action.   

When we view others with a judgmental or critical mind, we are essentially condemning and/or sentencing that person. The definition of judge involves hearing, deciding, and pronouncing after deliberation, and the Greek word for judgment use in the New Testament is the word used in relation to a decision passed on the faults of others. When we make judgments based on others’ behaviors, we decide or form an opinion about what that person should or shouldn’t be doing. In essence, we set ourselves up as better then the other (pride) and condemn the other based on behavior. If you follow New Testament scriptures, judging others is extremely detestable to the Lord and this attitude opens many doors for the enemy in our lives (Romans 12:3, Romans 14:4, and Galatians 6:1-3).  Matthew chapter 7 also deals heavily with how we are to conduct ourselves when we judge others. We must have a holy fear of pride and be very careful of judging others.

What’s most distressing about judgment of others is the amount of time people devote to judgment. What if we were to use that time to better ourselves? Ultimately, the only actions for which we are accountable are our own. It is the ultimate in pride to assign ourselves as judge and jury for the actions of others - we can not save the world and we cannot change other people. The only actions we can affect are our own.

I’m thankful today for warm winter weather. I was able to get outside and take care of some house maintenance, and feed cows and goats without much trouble. :-) I don’t dislike cold weather, I just found myself grateful to not have to bundle up today. What is one thing you’re thankful for today? Maybe while you're thinking on that, you’ll forget to offer judgment about someone else…