2 Kings 17:5-8.13-15a.18,
Psalm 60:3.4-5.12-14,
Matthew 7: 1-5 Full Readings
Am I Judgmental?
In today's Gospel Jesus challenges us of our judgmental attitudes with a stern warning not to judge so that we shall not be judged because the way we judge others is the way we shall be judged. If we judge with mercy and justice we shall also be judged with mercy and justice and the vice versa is true.
It's very easy to misunderstand Jesus when he says don't judge so that you will not be judged. This doesn't mean that we should keep a blind eye to the faults and failings of people around us. When we decide to act like that we shall give ourselves a hard task which we will not manage. People make mistakes, they sin, some are stubborn and do stupid things around us. To pretend that we are not seeing these things and not to do anything about them, we are cutting ourselves off from reality. For instance, parents have to correct their children if they do wrong, the law has to take its course when one does a crime and a right punishment has to be given. Therefore, Jesus does not mean we stop noticing these things and leave living the reality. Now what does Jesus mean by saying that don't judge that you will not be judged?
Jesus means that in pointing out those wrongs we should not take ourselves as judges to judge others for what they have done. We should point out the wrong with love and mercy and correct someone with a helping attitude. We never know why someone has sinned though sometimes we pretend to have full knowledge of what and why the person has done something and then we start judging, gossiping and some of us use that chance to bring someone down.
Only God knows the inmost of that person and is always waiting for that person with mercy to receive him back. It follows then that each time we judge we judge with half truth and we should be careful not to judge with half truth because we may base on the other half which is false and then we mess up with someone's life.
The worst of all is that most of our judgments are full of malice and without a neutral attitude. It may be to bring someone down, to show that we are holier than the other one and things of a sort. We forget that we might be having more wrongs and sins than the person we are crucifying. That's why Jesus tells us that before we remove a speck in someone's eye, we should first remove a log in our eyes. It's a metaphorical language but bringing a point that reflecting on our own lives should be our first priority. Psychologists would say that what you see in others may be what is reflected in you and you don't want to confront it. If we don't reflect upon our lives and understand what a human being is, we will surely never see the truth in other people.
Brethren our sins and wounds, if not dealt with, blind us to see others as God sees them, and that's when we start forming judgments and prejudices. If we realise that we ourselves also sin and do mistakes, then we will not judge others for mistakes but we will understand them, move with a loving attitude to correct them. We must learn to know ourselves and will know others also. We will never be happy if we don't have self knowledge because un examined life is not worth living. This is the same even when we don't manage our strong tendencies to judge and criticize others every time. We will surely spend all our time finding the wrong in others instead of focusing on our lives. Let judgement be left to God alone.
Our invitation today is to try to manage our tendencies of judging others. As human beings the tendency to look at others' faults and forgetting ours is in us. In an Aesop Fable, titled The Two Bags, we read, “According to ancient lore, every man is born into the world with two bags suspended from his neck, one is front and one behind, and both are full of faults. But the one in front is full of his neighbor's faults; the one behind full of his own. Consequently, men are blind to their own faults but never lose sight of their neighbor's.” This is the attitude which we should try to shun as Jesus tells us today.
Otherwise the consequences are that we will also be judged the same way. And it's real that nobody likes to be judged negatively, if we don't need to be judged negatively, why do we judge others negatively. Remember the golden rule which instructs us to do to others what we would like to be done to us. The measure we measure, is the measure that will be measured to us, we reap what we sow, when we forgive we will also be forgiven, when we give, we will also be given and when we don't judge others we will not be judged also. By who? By God. This judgement also involves the law, if you judge rightly with justice in the court of law, you will also be judged rightly with justice.
Reflect today on how judgmental you are? How much is that judgmental tendency in you? What is your motive behind judging others? What is the measure you give to others? Do you do to others what you would like to be done unto you? Reflect on these questions and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow from negative judgmental attitudes.
Let us pray.
May your grace enlighten me oh God, so that I may always see each person as you see and that my attitude towards each one should be a loving and merciful attitude not a judgmental one. Amen.
Be blessed
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