Article January 18, 1988 Issue

This question of judging

Does judgment have to involve self-righteousness? Isn't it really based on humble listening to God?

Barbara-Jean Stinson

Have you ever found yourself judging the actions of another, and yet not being sure that you should do so? People who turn to the Bible for answers to this question of whether to judge find that the Gospels record several statements that the Master, Christ Jesus, made on this subject. Matthew tells us that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus flatly said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged."^{Matt. 7:1.} The Gospel of John, however, records Jesus as saying to those who were questioning his healing and teaching, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."^{John 7:24.}

We can see by Jesus' statements on these different occasions how important it is to discern spiritually our reasons for judging. Is our motive to assert and justify our own personal opinion over someone else's, or is it truly to heal? Does our judgment come out of self-righteousness and strong personal sense, or does it proceed from persistently drawing close to God, from spiritual humility? One way of judging is clearly wrong; the other leads toward healing and peace.

The Bible says, in the words of the Psalmist, "The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth."^{Ps. 9:16.} God, as divine Principle, however, never judges from a mortal, material standpoint (that is, according to appearances), for He is not mortal and has not created man as mortal. In fact, God does not judge His creation in any ordinary human sense of the word. God is impartial divine Love, who creates, knows, and beholds His man to be His perfect spiritual reflection. God, therefore, sees and "judges" man to be the way He made him—without fault of any kind. All human assessment, to be genuinely fair, must always begin with the divine ideal—with the heartfelt desire to see each individual as God truly made him, as the spiritual representative of divine Principle, Love. From this standpoint, the evils of the carnal mind, which are really no part of anyone's true selfhood, can be clearly seen and judged for what they are—lies about man, which must be destroyed by truth.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

This question of judging

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access