Should we judge others?

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You cant judge someone’s salvation that belongs only to God but if you see them doing something that would keep them out of heaven, you are obligated to try and correct them.
 
KP

I agree. But then someone would say that is being judgmental. Is it not permissible to be judgmental without presuming to judge the fate of another person’s immortal soul? And do we not have an obligation to extort others away from sin when they are openly sinful?
 
I firmly believe in counseling someone if needed and if they are open to it, but judgemental behavior only pushes people further away, in my opinion.
 
It seems that the last wrong in our society today is to “judge.” Do whatever you want to, but don’t judge!! But exactly what is being judged remains largely undefined.

There is judging people, which to judge a person as somehow worthless or irredeemable is definitely wrong. “This person is bad,” “You’re going to hell” etc. That sort of judgment is wrong, and only God can judge our souls. “Judge not lest you be judged.”

But then there is judging actions. “It is wrong to ," " is a sin, don’t do it,” etc. That is the “right judgment,” and is in fact morally required, or else we would be letting people continue to think that a bad thing is good. To admonish the sinner is a spiritual work of mercy. Sadly a lot of people now think even doing that is “judgmental.” But tell them that they are judging the act of judging as wrong. It is impossible to be entirely non-judgmental.
 
The confusion is in the word “judge”. Let’s assume that “judge” is in the strictest sense of judging the state of a person’s soul. No, we may not do this…don’t even have the capability to do so, and to try would be a sin.

However, we ARE required to discern the right-ness or wrong-ness of a person’s actions, to correct when necessary or obliged to do so, and to lead each other along the right path. Scripture is FULL of references to this.

blog.adw.org/2010/06/correcting-the-sinner-is-not-being-judgmental-it-is-an-essential-work-of-charity/

blog.adw.org/2009/11/fraternal-correction-the-forgotten-virtue/

🙂
 
Bucket

**Yes. But that doesn’t mean we have to use words. **

How else can we exhort?
 
I don’t think it’s a sin to judge on assumption whether someone goes to hell or not by their actions. Why would it be, it’s not like what we say or think makes it so?

…but to claim such things with certainty is ridiculous.
 
Angels

**I firmly believe in counseling someone if needed and if they are open to it, but judgemental behavior only pushes people further away, in my opinion. **

When a judge sentences a man to prison, is he pushing him further away? Or is he giving him some time to think about the consequences of crime?
 
If so, why so? If not, why not?
I had a date with a woman who told me, at length, that her sister was a liar and a ***** and she hated her extended family. Family problems and abuse are all too common, and I would never rule her out for those reasons alone.

But as someone seeking a long-term relationship, her behaviour was a red flag to me. Granted, she was also attractive, clever, successful, ambitious, but not someone I wanted as a potential girlfriend.

After that first date, I politely explained that we weren’t compatible and should see other people. Not to my surprise, she refused to take “no” for an answer and continued to pursue me. When she gave up she demanded to know why I rejected her.

I told her straight: on our first date, I met a tactless woman with unresolved anger and boundary issues. Everything she did after that reinforced my initial impression.

Sometimes we need to judge people’s actions when our own interests are at stake.
 
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