Judging Others

Today's Reflections 

      

Judging Others 

 

Mt 7:1-5

[Jesus said to his disciples,] ¹“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. ²For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. ³Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? ⁵You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

THE SPLINTER IN YOUR BROTHER’S EYE. The Bible employs a lot of hyperbole or language used for effect and not meant to be taken literally. In underlining the irony and folly of pointing to the faults of others when we have even bigger faults, Jesus says that we notice the splinter in someone’s eye but do not perceive the wooden beam in our own. This manner of speaking or joking invites laughter, but the joke is one that judges or attempts to correct.

Jesus is not prohibiting the recognition of others’ faults; in fact, he speaks of removing the splinter from a brother’s eye. What Jesus warns against is passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetting that one has a share of faults that may even be more serious.

Try pointing a finger at someone. As you point one finger, three other fingers close and point back at you. You see only the finger pointed at the other person, unaware of the three other fingers pointing back at you.

This does not mean that we cannot have our opinions of other people. It is unrealistic to expect that we do not make assessments of others. We are, however, reminded to be slow in condemning. If we correct others, it must be done with love and humility, bearing in mind the words of Jesus, “The measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you” (Lk 6:38).

When you see someone making mistakes,

do you correct the person

without appearing arrogant?

Or do you say, “It’s none of my business”?