Day 14 DV AWARENESS: Judge righteously

We have already discussed examining yourself a couple of days ago. Now let's talk about examining other people. 

Some time in the 90s, Tupac left an indelible mark on the psyches of folks. He made it so that folks were running around saying "Only God can judge me," as if it were scripture.

Now people will also say that the Bible says, judge not...but they cut all the rest of it out. 

The New Testament text is as follows:

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 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?
5 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.

— Matthew 7:1-5 KJV (Matthew 7:1-5 other versions)

I always felt like people took this the wrong way. This passage basically means don't be a hypocrite because the same way you judge folks, you will be judged. That doesn't mean you can't judge people, it just means mind the way that you judge them.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

…23"If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

No, I'm not getting all religious, but since folks are always throwing this "judge not..." Thing up, I figured I would give the full scope...to an extent. 

That means, look not at superficial things when examining people...get to the core. What's in the hearts and souls of people? You know, sometimes heart sickness manifests itself in crazy ways, some of those ways are alluring but dangerous. It is hard to deal with a person who's heart is sick and in need of healing, especially when that person refuses to seek help. 

Let's just be real, some folks just don't belong in your life at certain times in your life. That is why you need to examine a person's words, actions, and motives. Sometimes you get weak and vulnerable, that is not the best time to have someone in your life who will take advantage of you.

You may be quite unable to help that advantage taker learn the error of his or her ways. Now, if he or she came across you at another point in your life, you might be able to offer some positive influence. 

Everyone and everything is not necessary to have in your life. So yes, you can judge  a person's irresponsible past (and present) behaviors, by getting to the core of what caused him or her to move the way they moved and behave how they behaved, and discovering whether or not the impetus has been removed. 

If a person has lied his or her whole life, then he or she may be a forever liar...or there could be a reason he or she is escaping life and truth through lies. Don't judge the surface, get to the bottom of things, then decide if you want to deal with it. Now, after examining, you will make an informed decision on whether or not you want a liar in your life.

Trust, people need to judge you too. There are things about who you are and what you do that don't jive with their lives, and that's okay. There are billions of people on this planet, some belong on your paths, others are trespassing.

You have to be wise enough to figure out who is who.