Sheena George
We are good at judging others. We mean most of us, Christians. We get some kind of pleasure in prosecution of others through judgments. Inevitably, most of the time, nay all the the time, we go wrong while making judgments.
Bible clearly tells us against judging others. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you… For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:36-38).
But we forget these words. But remember that a day will come after our death when we have to give explanation for all our "judgments". Jesus will defend us, but we will be judged one day -- on God's judgement day.
Our words judging others often lead to calumny, slander and character assassination. We are actually besmirching somebody's reputation by our misrepresentation of facts. It's dangerous. Remember that Satan is acting on such occasions. Satan, that odious mountebank, is cheating us when we judge others. These "judgement' ideas come from Satan.
This is what Pope Francis said last week in one of his homilies. He says one who judges puts himself in God’s place and thus faces certain defeat in life because he’ll be paid back in kind. And he'll live in confusion, seeing a “speck” in his brother’s eye rather than the “log” that blocks his own sight.
In fact, judging others leads us to hypocrisy. And Jesus defines hypocrites as those who act as judges. Because, the Pope explained, “a person who judges gets it wrong, becomes confused and is defeated”.
One who judges “always gets it wrong”. He’s wrong, Pope Francis explained, because he takes the place of God, who is the only judge: taking that place is is taking the wrong place.” The Gospel recounts that “judging others was one of the acts of the legal experts whom Jesus called ‘hypocrites’”. These are the people who “judge everything”. However, the worst thing is that, in doing this, they put themselves in God’s place, and God is the only judge.
In fact, Jesus “never accuses” but, on the contrary, he defends. He “is the first Paraclete. Then he invites the second, the Holy Spirit, to us”. Jesus is “the defender: he is before the Father to defend us against accusations.”
But when there’s a defender, there’s also an accuser. The Pope explained that “in the Bible the accuser is called devil, Satan”. Jesus “will judge at the end of the world, but in the meantime, he intercedes, he defends”.
The sad part is that most of us don't realise that we are making a big mistake when we judge others. We take it very casually as if everything is normal. It's not.
We are good at judging others. We mean most of us, Christians. We get some kind of pleasure in prosecution of others through judgments. Inevitably, most of the time, nay all the the time, we go wrong while making judgments.
Bible clearly tells us against judging others. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you… For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:36-38).
But we forget these words. But remember that a day will come after our death when we have to give explanation for all our "judgments". Jesus will defend us, but we will be judged one day -- on God's judgement day.
Our words judging others often lead to calumny, slander and character assassination. We are actually besmirching somebody's reputation by our misrepresentation of facts. It's dangerous. Remember that Satan is acting on such occasions. Satan, that odious mountebank, is cheating us when we judge others. These "judgement' ideas come from Satan.
This is what Pope Francis said last week in one of his homilies. He says one who judges puts himself in God’s place and thus faces certain defeat in life because he’ll be paid back in kind. And he'll live in confusion, seeing a “speck” in his brother’s eye rather than the “log” that blocks his own sight.
In fact, judging others leads us to hypocrisy. And Jesus defines hypocrites as those who act as judges. Because, the Pope explained, “a person who judges gets it wrong, becomes confused and is defeated”.
One who judges “always gets it wrong”. He’s wrong, Pope Francis explained, because he takes the place of God, who is the only judge: taking that place is is taking the wrong place.” The Gospel recounts that “judging others was one of the acts of the legal experts whom Jesus called ‘hypocrites’”. These are the people who “judge everything”. However, the worst thing is that, in doing this, they put themselves in God’s place, and God is the only judge.
In fact, Jesus “never accuses” but, on the contrary, he defends. He “is the first Paraclete. Then he invites the second, the Holy Spirit, to us”. Jesus is “the defender: he is before the Father to defend us against accusations.”
But when there’s a defender, there’s also an accuser. The Pope explained that “in the Bible the accuser is called devil, Satan”. Jesus “will judge at the end of the world, but in the meantime, he intercedes, he defends”.
The sad part is that most of us don't realise that we are making a big mistake when we judge others. We take it very casually as if everything is normal. It's not.
