Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged

"If you treat a man as he is, he will remain as he is; if you treat him as he ought to be and could be, he will become as he ought to be and could be." Goethe



Matt. 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."

At Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the region across the Jordan, Jesus was talking to the multitudes gathered there after hearing of His message and of His healing to beseech them to not become like the pharisees and hypocrites who think they are above sin.
Many recent events have caused me to ponder this bible verse. I have to freely admit that I am guilty of judging, with no right to do so. Sometimes I do it without intention, when trying to give advice to someone with good intentions. As a parent, who has made many, many mistakes in her own life, I can't help but try to give advice to my children, to spare them the hurt that I have brought on myself and those around me in the past.

When I do this, the feedback I get leads me to believe that they think that I am judging them for their behavior, and perhaps I am to an extent. But, I am also judging myself in the same instant for past mistakes. Mistakes/sins that I have sought forgiveness, and given just that by the one and only judge.

How often do we actually judge ourselves in just that way, while judging others? Our children, and grandchildren are living in a world filled with new temptations. We ourselves have been exposed to temptations that would have never occurred to our parents or grandparents.

In the first eight years of my mothers life she was raised by her grandparents. Each morning her grandmother dressed her in button up to the knee shoes. Not one other child in her class was wearing button up to the knee shoes in the early twenties. Her grandmother was an extremely plain Pennsylvania Dutch woman, who strongly believed in modesty, and meekness.

Each day my mother willingly deceived her grandmother, by stopping by her friend June Dutt's home to wear a pair of June's shoes to school, and changing them again on the way home. I am sure Mom carried some guilt within her for this innocent transgression.

What child today would be considered disobedient for not wanting to wear such an outdated pair of shoes? My paternal grandmother often said, " Children are to be seen and not heard." Now that is a rule to be challenged.

Imagine the judgment of "powers that be" of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 if they stepped into our homes today. Unless you are Amish, living the original plain Amish life without electricity and all the frills of our "English" life, you most likely would be judged a witch, for the TV, Computer, Microwave, Dishwasher, and even that pet cat sleeping peacefully on the arm of the chair.

I suppose we all really do have that plank in our own eye, without the right to judge others for their specks, and just suppose we could learn to forgive ourselves, wouldn't that make it easier to forgive those who trespass against us. Actually, many times they aren't even doing anything to us, and we are judging them for what they do to themselves.

"Let go, let God", the hardest concept for we humans to embrace. We really think we are in charge, and have a real hard time giving it all over in order to free our soul of such earthly burdens.

We need to do this A.S.A. P. I got this from my friend Deb on Facebook, Always Say A Prayer!