Thought of the Day 02.06.09

“Judge not, lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1) must be the most misused phrase from the Bible. In fact, because it is unloving to withhold wisdom from people who need to hear it, Jesus also instructed us to “Judge righteous judgment,” (John 7:24) Just as I admonish my children whom I love, I should love others enough to admonish them when necessary.

Yet even with my children, for whom I have deep and unwavering affection, I still find that I sometimes scold them too quickly, too harshly, or even too selfishly. In other words, even when my motives are nearly pure, there are still times I have illicitly chastised them. And if so, then how much more likely is it that I would confront people I barely know and care comparatively little about in an even less Christlike way?

It’s not acceptable to keep our mouths shut. But it’s also not acceptable to allow our mouths to fly so recklessly open when the depth of our love for those we admonish is obviously not yet where it should be.