(~) Judging others

Rev. Dr. Sandra Bochonok.

"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get."Matthew 7:1-2

Only the Bible has appeared in more editions and in more languages than the devotional treasure "The Imitation of Christ" attributed to the German ecclesiastic Thomas a Kempis. His fifteenth century wisdom remains relevant and timely.

Kempis offers this mature spiritual insight, "Study to be patient in bearing the defects of others, and their infirmities, be they what they may; for thou hast many things, which others must bear withal. If thou canst not make thyself what thou wouldst be, how canst thou expect to have another so exactly to thy mind? We would fain see others perfect, and yet our own faults we amend not. We would have others strictly corrected, and we will not be corrected ourselves. . . . We wish others to be kept within the rules, and we ourselves will not bear to be checked ever so little. And so it is clear how seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves . . .

God hath thus ordered . . . that we may learn to bear one another's burdens; for no one is without a fault, no one but hath a burden; no one is sufficient for himself, no one is wise enough for himself: but we have to support one another, comfort one another, help, instruct and admonish one another" (á Kempis, Thomas. "The Imitation of Christ," p. 28.)

God, teach us this timeless wisdom. Forgive our judgmental attitudes. Amen

from "Living as the Beloved" published by Chi Rho Press

Used with permisson