Wednesday, June 27, 2007

LEARN TO USE JUDGMENTS PROPERLY

MONDAY, 26 JUNE 2007
Gospel Reading: Matthew 7:1-5

It is natural for us to make judgments. We find ourselves automatically doing it. You do it when you are at the grocery store deciding between this cereal or that one. God put it into our nature when he made us in his image and likeness. Since he was giving us free will like he has, the ability to judge had to come along as part of the package. It would be rather difficult, impossible actually, to use our free will responsibly if we couldn’t make judgments. Can’t make decisions without making judgments. Decisions as to what is good or bad, right or wrong, valuable or useless, true or false, and so on. How could we ever decide what to eat, who to marry, where to go on vacation, or which VCR to buy?

We must make judgments, and Jesus knows that. He never said not to. He just wants us to learn how to use it properly. We are not to let it go berserk, out of control, and make really rash and stupid judgments - judgments not in line with facts, truth, nor justice. For when that happens, we also make wrong decisions.

This is what Jesus was really saying: “If you want to avoid being judged unfairly, stop passing unfair judgments on others. Your verdict on others will be the verdict passed on you. The measure with which you measure will be used to measure you.”

Jesus said that when we judge people, realize that we seldom have all the facts. We can never know for sure the real reasons people do what they do. We often don’t know why we do what we do. Only God knows. And yet, even to the most guilty, he shows mercy, understanding, and forgiveness. Let us learn to judge as God does.

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