10/10/99
Judgment Revisited
I will first add one interesting comment on this that is new. Contrary to the belief of many, Jesus condemned the religious leaders of his day, not for judging, but for NOT using judgment:
Jesus said:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, JUDGMENT, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matt 23:23
Here Jesus actually called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for NOT using “judgment with mercy and faith.”
Why did he do this? Because in blindly following the letter of the law they were abdicating their god given power of judgment, mercy and faith. These three attributes are a Trinity and work together to fulfill the Purpose of God.
The scripture that says “judge not” is the most misunderstood writing in the bible.
Let us quote it and see what Jesus was really saying:
“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.” Matt 7:1-5
Here Jesus is NOT telling us that we cannot judge, but is instead warning us of the law of karma if we judge harshly or incorrectly for he says: “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
Therefore if you judge someone with minor faults to have major faults, this harsh judgment will come back to haunt you.
In this scripture He gives the key for righteous judgment: “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 other words, concentrate on eliminating your own faults first and then you will be able to make a correct judgment as to how to help your brother (or sister).
Here is another scripture illustrating even more clearly that Jesus was talking about the law of karma:
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6:36-38
Here He is simply saying that if we judge rashly, condemning our brother and not forgiving him, we will reap what we have sowed and find condemnation coming back to us.
Jesus gives us a guide in using the power of judgment correctly:
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” John 5:30
As we seek to become one with God and follow Him will then the beam clogging our vision will be removed and our judgment will also be just.
Here is an interesting scripture where Jesus actually commands us to judge:
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24
Judge with clarity, wisdom and love and when you are then judged, as you have judged, all will be well with you, but if you do not judge righteously then the law of karma will bring painful judgments to your door.
Finally Jesus tells his twelve apostles that they shall be judges:
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matt 19:28
When you think of it, it is silly to say we should not judge. As soon as you wake in the morning you make a judgment as to whether to get up or sleep a while longer. When you get in the shower you make a judgment as to when you are clean enough to get out.
When you eat breakfast you make a judgment as to what you will have and how much.
When you drive to work and are a little late you make a judgment as to whether you are going to speed or not.
Finally, you get to work and meet the new guy who was just hired. He wants to be your best friend and now you make a judgment on whether or not you want this type of personality in your life.
Then your boss wants you to dig up some dirt on the boss above him. You judge your boss to be wrong and refuse.
We could go on and on here but hopefully we get the point. Judgments are not wrong. Only bad judgments are wrong.
Every quality and ability has a positive and negative side to it.
When the Bible and A Course in Miracles talks about judgment in a negative light, they are talking about negative, limiting judgments.
Example: The kid tells the parent he is going to get straight A’s next time around and the parent says: “You’ve failed miserably in the past, so you’re going to fail again.”
This is a cruel and limiting judgment.
A positive judgment would be something like this: “I have seen you make progress in the past when you make an effort and I do believe you have it in you to dramatically improve your grades.”
Here the parent made a judgment on the positive possibilities of the child and in this case judgment is a good thing.
Copyright by J J Dewey
Index for Older Archives in the Process of Updating
Easy Access to All the Writings
For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE
JJ’s Amazon page HERE
Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE