Saturday, April 10, 2010

Judging Others - Words I Should Not Live By

I've always thought I knew my own faults and that I tried to correct them.
However, there is one fault that I was blind to in myself for many years. I always thought I was open-minded, honest, and non-judgmental. I really did not think I judged others.

I am now very much aware that I do it. And I do it quite often. I have prayed about this. I am ashamed of it. Whether I call it "judging others" or "being critical of others," the fact is that I should not be doing this if I consider myself a Christian and a follower of Christ's teaching and ways.

Maybe the prayers are working, just a little. I am slowly "hearing" myself. I hear certain words and phrases which have begun to stick in my mind when I hear myself saying them, or even thinking them. I must be wary of starting a thought or a verbal statement with the words "He should have...", "I think you're wrong about that," or "I can't believe she did that."

It is very difficult to break a habit or correct a fault I've had most of my life. I always told myself that I was just "helping" by commenting about what I think is someone else's fault. I know I've written about this, in a way, in the past year or two. Usually, I try to do the WWJD routine - What Would Jesus Do? Whenever I can get to that stage, I can usually bite my tongue.

See, I figure if Jesus could bite his tongue when they were criticizing him so royally during his last days, when he could have so easily just blown them away with just a thought or a look, then I should surely, with his help, be able to handle my small earthly trouble with this issue.

Please, dear Jesus, fill me with all the grace I need to at least try to follow in your footsteps, regarding how I think about others; help me to do as you would have done; and forgive me, please, when I constantly need your help.

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