Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭37

Most of us have a bit of a judgement problem. Most of us get white hot when we see someone get away with anything.

Most of us can’t stand it when the grace we enjoy is doled out to others in different circumstances.

It is very hard to bend our mind into submission in this regard. It seems that our very instincts are to be quick to judge and quick to find fault and quick even to hate.

How much of that is righteous, and how much of that is because we are deriving pleasure from the wrongs of others?

Don’t I get a little adrenaline when I see a wrong righted? When I see the hammer of justice brought down?

And yes, we need it. Our society does depend on it.

But our spiritual wellbeing depends on us having the flexibility to forgive.

It’s not possible to grow in our faith while harboring resentments and latching on to every petty problem around us.

We are not the judges of our fellows.

And as with alcohol, the judgements we carry will weigh us down and beat us into bitterness.

And just as we didn’t consider not drinking for so long, we never considered not harboring resentment, not critiquing our fellows, not casting stones.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean compliance. Often, it’s simply freeing ourselves from the weight of other people’s judgement.

God, help me forgive.