Yesterday, Wess Morgan was a surprise guest at my church. He sang a couple of songs which I thoroughly enjoyed but what stood out most was his testimony. He shared stories of his life as a preacher’s kid, in and out of jail, addicted to drugs, etc. While sharing he said something that truly hit home for me…“As you become more self-aware, you become less judgmental.”
“No one is perfect.” For most, this is truly just a saying; something thrown around as needed to defend our own actions, crude remarks, behaviors, etc. but where is this thought when it comes to others? This notion is completely dismissed when scrutinizing our peers. In fact, most precede their judgmental comments with “I’m not judging but…” which is equally as disingenuous as “shade but no shade” or “I don’t like to gossip but…” However, as Wess pointed out, the more honest you are about yourself, the decisions you’ve made, the people you’ve hurt, your fears, secrets, etc., the less likely you are to pass judgement on others.
Although some of this judgment may happen subconsciously we have to be more responsible for our thoughts toward others. Think about your thinking…my teacher friends refer to this as metacognition. Although it’s different in the education field, I think it would go a long way here especially because some of the studies point out that without the ability to do so “people tend to be blissfully unaware of their own incompetence.” Ouch!
“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” (Romans 14: 12-13)