Matthew 7:1-6
New International Version (NIV)
Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will
see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do
not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you
do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to
pieces.
This one has always kinda been a relatively easy one for me... I do not consider myself a judgmental person.... and I am harshest on myself .... a lot more than I am on others.... but as I thought about it the past few days I thought maybe I was wrong.... maybe I am more judgmental than I thought... as it turns out, I was very wrong..... very very wrong....
I looked up the meaning of the word judging..... Google says it is to 'Form an opinion or conclusion about.' I then looked up judging someone, urban dictionary says it is 'to quickly form a bias and/or personal opinion about someone or something.' I do this a lot!!!! I have opinions about everything.... yes, even people.... and I form them very fast... sometimes I think I am right but other ties I come to discover that I am extremely wrong.... now I know that I have always been wrong... It is not my place to form an opinion about anybody..... it also got me thinking about how exactly I arrive at these opinions I form and I found that it is all in fact very judgmental of me.... I compare, I judge, based on what I think I know, what I have seen and heard.... but how Christlike is it of me? More importantly, how do I not do it?
Funny thing is.... I hate it when people judge me and will find myself going out of my way to prove them wrong..... what the hell is wrong with me? How do I change this?
Oh and I like to see the specks and help take them out.... some people appreciate it.... others don't..... I even started to think I was good at it and maybe that was my calling.... helping people... so how do you help people without forming opinions? How do psychiatrists/psychologists do it?
Verse 6 has always been a mystery to me. I understand the basic concept of not giving things of value to people who will not appreciate them or do not know the meaning of them. But what are these things of worth.... and how do you know or decide or determine who deserves them and who doesn't? And if you do this, isn't that in a way judging? I started thinking about it in terms of sexuality and that is the one thing or topic where it made complete sense to me. Many times as women we let ourselves be abused physically and emotionally by giving ourselves to people who do not deserve us or who do not know our worth. The question, however, is, do WE know our worth? If we don't, how different are we from the 'pigs' then?
I'm honestly very confused by all this right now... and the more I think about it, the more confusing it gets. Anyone out there that can help? I'm I over thinking this? Is it possible to over think it? I'm I misinterpreting it? I think I ought to stop now before my rumblings become unbearable!
