Everyday we live, we see people, we interact with them on a daily basis, be they friends, family, acquaintances or strangers We interact with them at our place of dwelling, at our school's or at work, we may see them at church, a party or function or at the grocery store on drive along side them on the highway. As humans these interactions are normal but do we take the time to realize that just like us, they too are facing the storms of life? You may see a lady walk past you in the street and look down at the way she looks and dresses but if you were to see her everyday life you'd realize she is a single parent. You may look at the smartly dressed man with the big house and think, 'I wish I could be that rich.' but if you were to know his story you'd see that he is drowning in debt. You may look at your friends and colleagues and say 'I'd be happy if I were as successful as them.' not realizing that they may be successful but there family life isn't going that great.
Most times we judge by appearances and most people appear to be happy or some people might appear to be grumpy or rude, but you never know what they might have gone through before you met them.
Matthew 7 :1-6 talks about judging people, it says "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. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye and then you will clearly see to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
What this passage is saying is this; we look at other people and we see their faults and sometimes we ourselves have a bigger problem but we tend to reprimand them for their misdoings and not realize that we need to change ourselves.
God doesn't want us to judge each other, that is not to say that you shouldn't be smart with the choices you make and the people you befriend, but remember that everyone is going through their own process. God judges each of us based on our intentions, he is the perfect judge. He knows each of us, our thoughts, our actions and why we make the choices we make, therefore we should leave the judging to him.
There is this story on moralstories.org. It goes like this;
Think Before you Judge
A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call asap, changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy’s father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor.
On seeing him, the father yelled, “Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have any sense of responsibility?”
The doctor smiled and said, “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came as fast as I could after receiving the call and now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work”.
“Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies while waiting for doctor than what will you do??” said the father angrily. The doctor smiled again and replied, “We will do our best by God’s grace and you should also pray for your son’s healthy life”.
“Giving advises when we’re not concerned is so easy” Murmured the father.
The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, “Thank goodness! your son is saved!” And without waiting for the father’s reply he carried on his way running by saying, “If you have any questions, ask the nurse”.
“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son’s state” Commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left. The nurse answered, tears coming down her face, “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was at the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery. And now that he saved your son’s life, he left running to finish his son’s burial.”
Remember, judging a person doesn't define who they are, it defines who you are.
So next time you feel like judging someone remember that you don't know the full story of their life -you don't know their destiny-, and be more sympathetic because 'one by one makes a difference collectively' and your simple act of consideration can result in other people learning from you and being more considerate also!"
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