Judgmentalism

Judge not, lest you be judged. For by the judgement with which you judge, you shall be judged.

Matt 7:1,2

I've been a Christian for 30 years and have read these words of Jesus countless times, and agreed with them, intellectually. You see, I'm an intellectual person, it takes a long time for things to get from my head to my heart – but 30 years?!!!!

Apparently, I never considered myself to be judgemental. Others would quickly disagree, I'm sure. In fact, I'm so judgemental that I don't even have to say anything and people feel the condemnation. That comes from being a head person, not a heart person, a thinker rather than a feeler. We need both, of course, to be balanced, but balance was never my strength, thinking was.

Of course, judgmentalism requires a certain amount of pride and arrogance. You can't judge someone who is equal or higher than you, you can only judge your inferiors. Hence, I put myself above those whom I judge, looking down on them. I've known that for a long time, God showed me that in the early 1990's. But it still didn't stop me from judging people, not everyone, but some people.

Romans 2 tells us that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the same thing. You would think that would be a clue, but apparently not. Oswald Chambers in the June 22nd devotional in My Utmost for His Highest asks us if we believe that statement from the Bible. If we do, it must mean that the hypocrisy, fraud and unreality we see in others exists in us, if not outright, then, at least in possibility.

Ozzie also asks the question, “Who among us would dare to stand before God and say, 'My God, judge me as I have judged others'?” Not me, certainly. However, I am determined to change that. I'm repenting of my judgmentalism and asking the Lord's forgiveness for any damage I have done to His Name and His kingdom.

I'm also asking for the forgiveness of anyone out there whom I may have offended. I won't promise it will never happen again, but by the grace of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, in time, I expect to remove it completely from my life, whereby I can be judged by the atonement rather than the arbitrary standards that I set for others.