Saturday, May 2, 2009

Foundations of Judging

My New Year's Resolution this month is taken from Matthew 7:1-5 and Matthew 6:19-23. I will address the first passage today, the second passage next week, then try to tie them together the rest of the month.

Matthew 7:1-5 says:

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

In the JST, the first verse has been altered slightly to read:

Judge not unrighteously . . . but judge righteous judgment.


Just as a starter this month:

My favorite definition of "righteous" is "right with God" - so when dealing with judging righteously, my best definition would be to judge as God would judge. Phrasing it that way is critical to me, as it is the very foundation of how I see the command and its application for me - for the following three reasons, especially:

1) I believe we simply don't see the big picture AND don't understand others well enough to judge as God judges - so we are commanded simply not to judge.

2) I try to be analytical and strive to understand, but I try just as hard to avoid "judging" (acting as a judge and pronouncing a sentence based on guilt or innocence) - because I simply don't know exactly why most people think and do what they think and do OR exactly how accountable they are for their thoughts and actions.

3) I want to be judged with extreme leniency, so I try to be as charitable and non-judgmental as possible. That alone is worth contemplating regularly.

4 comments:

In The Doghouse said...

Ever since I understood the importance of righteous judgment, (see post http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2008/05/in-book-of-mormon-learning-law-of.html) I have tried very hard to be careful with that important law.

I have also been studying the life of King David and have discovered that he was certainly one to judge righteously too.

It is important to understand the law of judgment so that we can live it better.

Thanks for reminding me of that law today with your post.

Bryan said...

Very nice post, I agree 100%.

I sometimes like to think of "righteous" as including "the love of God", and for me this brings out an additional flavor to "judge righteous judgment".

Papa D said...

ITD & Bryan, thanks for those insights. I am thinking a lot about the general topic right now, for various reasons, and I'm glad it's my resolution this month.

Next weekend, when I write about "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven", I will addressing it as one more example of how well God knows us and the course of our lives. It continues to amaze me, more than it probably should, how timely these resolutions have been for me.

Bryan Gee said...

I agree! Thanks for the post!