3 Nephi 14:1-5
14:1-2 - Judgment, oh sweet glorious judgment, my favorite topic, well not really, but I like it anyway. Jesus is again addressing the multitude when he teaches “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” It’s interesting, this concept of being measured by your own stick, as a young girl with really no guidance as far as how to be and how to act and how to treat others I just kind of had to wing it and to be honest, I did really poorly. I was not a kind or happy person, and it was bad. I would say that I was very judgmental of other people, and it’s true that unhappy people will try to justify themselves by making others feel bad, bring those they are jealous of or view as a threat down to make themselves feel better. I was insanely jealous of everyone, I judged their situation to be amazing while wallowing in my own mess, and I was really really harsh with everyone. As I was learning how to not be like that, this lesson from the Savior kept gnawing at me, and every time that I would say something terrible about someone or something, it would occur to me that it would be devastating to me if people thought this same stuff about me, when in fact I was a much more complicated case and person. I also asked myself if I wanted Jesus to deal just as harshly with me as I did with others, and I decided that no, in fact I didn't want Jesus to be as awful to me, I wanted his love, his mercy, and his understanding. It wasn't an overnight change but slowly I was able to adopt an attitude of "it's none of my business, you don't have to explain yourself to me." I would like to think that I'm a pretty non judgmental person, everyone has their own struggles, everyone makes their choices based on what they think is best at the time, what they think will make them happy, and they do that, I have my own drama, I don't need to be making stuff up about other people too. I really try, because I have my own issues, I've been, and probably continue to be a horrible person, and I figure if I'm gentler with others then Jesus will be gentler with me, and I've been right. The IM teaches and interesting concept about the whole "judgment" concept by quoting Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, "I have been puzzled that some scriptures command us not to judge and others instruct us that we should judge and even tell us how to do it. But as I have studied these passages I have become convinced that these seemingly contradictory directions are consistent when we view them with the perspective of eternity. The key is to understand that there are two kinds of judging: final judgments, which we are are forbidden to make, and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles... First, a righteous judgment must, by definition, be intermediate... Second, a righteous judgment will be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, not by anger, revenge, jealousy, or self-interest... Third, to be righteous, and intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship... Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we have adequate knowledge of the facts." I don't know if it's because I'll never be a bishop, or anything like that, but looking at it from Elder Oaks' point of view, there is need of judgment, that's how the church leadership has to do it, in fact isn't one of the roles of a bishop is to be a common judge in Israel? So yes, I guess it is very important to learn how to dispense righteous judgment. I wonder about how the first point would be effective, as far as having final judgment, how can we even have final judgment in this life, in our capacity. I wonder if it would be like one of those things where if a church leader was to say something like "you're going to hell," or "you're a son of perdition" or something like that. It's really quite interesting to think about how that is possible, maybe indicating the repentance is futile in this life, that might be acting in a final judgment capacity. The most interesting point to me is number three where "intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship." If I'm not in charge of them, I have absolutely no place to judge anyone. Who's in my stewardship? I think my kids... and that's probably it, but how would I even judge them? Maybe dishing our discipline, I don't know.
14:3-5 - Jesus tells us that we are not to judge because we cannot see clearly, "why beholdest thou the mote that is in the brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" How can we see clearly, in a righteous manner, when we ourselves are blinded by our own sins, our own struggles and our own limitations. It's like the story of the woman who constantly criticized her neighbor for not washing her clothes thoroughly because they appeared dirty when she hung them up to dry and it wasn't until the woman went outside to confront her neighbor when she realized that it wasn't the clothes that were dirty but her own kitchen window that she'd been looking out of. HN comments, "Don't talk about how wicked the other person is when you are more wicked yourself. The mote is in your brother's eye. You have a much bigger one in your own eye, and you are trying to get the dust out of (your brother's) eye. This is normal procedure. It's a vicious and obsessive practice of hypocrites- let me pull the mote our of your eye (they say.)" I always wondered why the judging person had the beam in their eye and the one being judged only had the mote, why wasn't it the other way around? Why didn't the person being judged actually have a beam in his own eye? I don't know the real reason or even if it is important but I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess, just my own way of thinking, that the person who is doing the judging has the beam in their eye because if they truly had the mote and the other person had the beam, they would be dispensing righteous judgment in accordance with what Elder Oaks described. In other words, Jesus wouldn't be telling the people who are judging others to knock it off until they are worthy if they were in fact unworthy of the wisdom to judge righteously. Does that make sense? JW said, "Essentially no mortal can stand as a judge of his brother when he himself is flawed, and all people will find themselves judged at the bar of God by the same standard that they have used in judging others. This divine judgment operates universally and impartially, for God is not respecter of persons. This particular concept of justice- namely, rewarding or punishing a person in a manner that matches his own being or conduct- is mentioned several times in the scriptures as the form of God's justice at the judgment day... Therefore, a primary concern of the true Christian should be to develop one's own character: To be pure ('cast the beam out of thine own eye,') to serve ('to see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye,') to avoid hypocrisy, and to think and act towards others in the way that you would have God render judgment to you. The judgment process is more reflective than it is projective." Now that's an interesting summary, judging people is more about you then it is about them. Logically that makes sense, and I think that's what my point was back there with the whole, who has the beam and who has the mote, idea. I've heard the saying, and I feel that it's true, that what you are most critical about to others is what you secretly loath about yourself, and this point would be in agreement with that. Judging others is about you, not them.
14:3-5 - Jesus tells us that we are not to judge because we cannot see clearly, "why beholdest thou the mote that is in the brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" How can we see clearly, in a righteous manner, when we ourselves are blinded by our own sins, our own struggles and our own limitations. It's like the story of the woman who constantly criticized her neighbor for not washing her clothes thoroughly because they appeared dirty when she hung them up to dry and it wasn't until the woman went outside to confront her neighbor when she realized that it wasn't the clothes that were dirty but her own kitchen window that she'd been looking out of. HN comments, "Don't talk about how wicked the other person is when you are more wicked yourself. The mote is in your brother's eye. You have a much bigger one in your own eye, and you are trying to get the dust out of (your brother's) eye. This is normal procedure. It's a vicious and obsessive practice of hypocrites- let me pull the mote our of your eye (they say.)" I always wondered why the judging person had the beam in their eye and the one being judged only had the mote, why wasn't it the other way around? Why didn't the person being judged actually have a beam in his own eye? I don't know the real reason or even if it is important but I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess, just my own way of thinking, that the person who is doing the judging has the beam in their eye because if they truly had the mote and the other person had the beam, they would be dispensing righteous judgment in accordance with what Elder Oaks described. In other words, Jesus wouldn't be telling the people who are judging others to knock it off until they are worthy if they were in fact unworthy of the wisdom to judge righteously. Does that make sense? JW said, "Essentially no mortal can stand as a judge of his brother when he himself is flawed, and all people will find themselves judged at the bar of God by the same standard that they have used in judging others. This divine judgment operates universally and impartially, for God is not respecter of persons. This particular concept of justice- namely, rewarding or punishing a person in a manner that matches his own being or conduct- is mentioned several times in the scriptures as the form of God's justice at the judgment day... Therefore, a primary concern of the true Christian should be to develop one's own character: To be pure ('cast the beam out of thine own eye,') to serve ('to see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye,') to avoid hypocrisy, and to think and act towards others in the way that you would have God render judgment to you. The judgment process is more reflective than it is projective." Now that's an interesting summary, judging people is more about you then it is about them. Logically that makes sense, and I think that's what my point was back there with the whole, who has the beam and who has the mote, idea. I've heard the saying, and I feel that it's true, that what you are most critical about to others is what you secretly loath about yourself, and this point would be in agreement with that. Judging others is about you, not them.
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