"Judge not, lest ye be judged." Those famous words were uttered by Christ nearly two millennia ago. But what do they mean? And how do they apply to our modern day-to-day lives?
My own beliefs on this subject have evolved over the years, and will likely continue to do so. Like many other people in the Western World, I was taught as a child that having any opinion whatsoever constituted "silent judgment," and was a sinful thing to do. The ideal state of mind was one of complete moral relativism, without any black-and-white thinking whatsoever... or so I thought.
But at some point I realized that to conflate being opinionated with being judgemental betrayed an unhealthy fastidiousness which forsook moral clarity in favor of an impoverished substitute: moral neutrality. Everyone is intrinsically entitled to their opinions. You cannot have a sense of right and wrong without them. Christ Himself shared countless ideas about that which was righteous, as opposed to that which was reprehensible, and none of His proclamations were depicted as being judgements.
So what then does judgement constitute? To me it entails some form of punishment. Just as a judge in a court of law sentences a guilty defendant to hard labor for their crimes, judging another means condemning them for the wrongs they have committed. It entails a bitter vindictiveness infinitely more entrenched than the righteous anger necessary to recognize that one's enemies have done one wrong. And it stands in stark contrast to forgiveness, which is not only personally advantageous, but in the post-Resurrection Era of humanity, is also every being's sacred duty; particularly when they recognize themselves as having already been forgiven by Christ.
Since stumbling upon this revelation -- or perhaps having been led to it -- I have been more comfortable in acknowledging when and where both I and others have fallen astray. And I have had more luck in addressing my grievances towards others. Because without empowering one's own inner moral compass, one also cannot recognize where others have transgressed, for there is as yet no way to forgive that which one has failed to acknowledge.
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