July 2014 I wrote a post similar to this one, but since then I have heard a handful of comments about judging others, so I'm writing about it again.
The the way I see it "judging" someone is simply receiving messages that they send by what they say or do and forming an opinion about them. We judge people everyday, but should only be careful not to judge unrighteous judgements. Judging is only wrong when there is a lack of knowledge, which is why nobody except God is qualified to make final judgements.
Often we are told not to judge, which ends up meaning we should not hold moral standards that would result in our disapproving of the conduct of others.
Since I do follow a standard of living I do judge other's choices so I can know how to avoid making their same "mistakes", but that doesn't mean I think I am better than anybody else.
I can still love "sinners" without loving the "sin".
That doesn't mean that I will congratulate you or pretend to agree with actions that I believe are wrong to make sure you don't get offended, but I won't stop being a friend either.
I have my own sins and though they are different from yours, I'm not going to feel worse because nobody shares my same sin.
Living what I believe or disagreeing with another person's choices does not mean I am condemning everyone else that is choosing not to live the same way.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
Live what you believe and be confident in your choices. If you do that then stop caring what other people think and stop taking offense where none was intended.
As far as I care, you have your own agency to do whatever you want.
If you happen to not like someone's opinion of you then ask yourself what you did to give them that opinion. You can either change or ignore it, but the only person's opinion that matters anyway is Heavenly Father's.
The fact is that your actions send messages to others. The question you have to ask yourself is "What message do you want to send?"
Why feel judged about someone receiving the message that you chose to send out?
How else would you expect someone to form an opinion about who you are if not by what you say and do?
Oftentimes those who are claiming that they are being "judged" are actually the ones doing the unfair judging.
ReplyDeleteIf other people's opinions of your choices do not matter to you, then don't act like it does matter. By making a big deal about how someone else must think badly of you when they have never said as much, that just shows that their life and their choices have made an impact on you such that you make assumptions about what you think their thoughts are, when it's actually just your own thoughts that are plaguing you. The old adage is true: "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how little they do".