Do not judge, so that you may not be judged

 
Reading: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2.
 
Good morning, Happy Monday, and many blessings my dear family.
 
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 7:1-5) Jesus’ challenge for his followers today is not easy. He tells his disciples to stop judging. This is difficult for most of us to do.  Judgment comes from deep within us.  Someone may do or say something that violates what we believe or hold sacred and we judge them for it.  Perhaps they just did not put something back where it belonged or maybe they said something to us that cut us to the core.
 
Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. We need this lesson every day of our lives! Isn’t it true that often what most irritates us in others is often what most irritates us about ourselves? Do you ever catch yourself having to back down from an uncharitable comment, knowing that you are just as guilty!
 
Also, it is often the case that our own faults are the ones we least tolerate in another person. This passage focuses on leaving judgement to God and instead showing compassion for the weaknesses of another. However, if we read this passage in the context of the Lord’s commands to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, it becomes clear that we need also to forgive ourselves.
 
We all have standards.  Most of them we learned at a very young age through our parents and family members.  As young children, we didn’t even know we were adopting standards of thought and behavior. Thus, our family standards and rules typically are unconscious.  These standards and rules often lead us to judge another person’s behavior or attitude without even realizing that we are doing so.
 
Most of what we learned as children was essential to us. However, some of the learned attitudes of judgment that may hinder us in significant ways.  Can you name two or three attitudes or standards you learned as a child that you now consider unhealthy?  What are the leftovers from childhood that continue to plague you, even as you strive to overcome them?
 
Today, ask Jesus to remove the “wooden beam from your eye” so that you may have more compassion and understanding with yourself and with others.  When we realize that we are judging, we then have the opportunity to step back and consciously release our judgment.  After all, who are we to judge?  We don’t appreciate it when other people judge us without knowing the whole story.  No one appreciates being judged.
 
I invite you to set judgment aside as best you can.  Strive to be mindful of when you are making a judgment.  When you realize that you are judging, simply release the judgment.  The reality is that judgment is God’s work, not ours. Today, may we let God be God!
 
Blessings,
 
Luis+