Judgement

“Don’t Judge me!” is the common refrain from people who know they’re doing wrong,

I won’t judge you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion.  Because that’s really what people are saying, “Don’t have an opinion that I don’t agree with and makes me feel bad.”  They frame the argument using the biblical “Judge not lest you be judged,” putting god-fearing Christians on the defensive, thinking they can’t express their opinion because it will be judgmental.    But judgement is not opinion.

I can’t help but have an opinion about almost everything I see.  I discern, and that discernment creates an opinion.  If I see a rock, I form an immediate opinion about it (is it beautiful, ugly, useful, dangerous, in the wrong place, etc.).  And when I see someone’s behaviour, I also form an opinion.  I may not agree with how you act, or how you live.  And there’s an outside chance I may even tell you, if it’s appropriate and useful for building you up so that it may benefit those who listen (Eph 4:29).

But that’s not judging.  To judge is to condemn, and that’s not under my purvey.  I don’t have the ability to condemn, only God has the ultimate say in condemnation.

I won’t judge you, and I won’t condemn you.

But God will.

So stop being defensive, selfish and arrogant.  Seek God’s forgiveness and remove the imminent judgement that awaits us all.

And once you’re out of the shadow of condemnation, you might find the opinions of others less judgmental.