Are we supposed to judge people?

Question

We make a judgment to cross the street. We judge
who we are friends with, who we marry, and ourselves!
We elect judges. The word comes from a root which means "see"...
So when people say "dont judge", i say why? Isnt good judgment a virtue?

I will judge you by your words and actions.

the word used in Matthew 7 is "krino" Greek for distinguish, or decide, but it also means punish.

A tree is judged by its fruits, as a man is judged by his heart...

i judge trees and men all the time, if i didnt, i would eat pine cones and befriend devils.

Answer 1

Should We Never Judge?


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"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment"; and "You have rightly judged."; and "Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?"; and "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves". (Jesus' Words in John 7:24; Luke 7:43, 12:57 and Matt. 23:15)

There is an extremely serious error that is being believed by the vast majority of people caught up in christian religion. This error is literally making those folks unwilling and unable to discern truth. And what is this error? It is believing that all "judgment" is wrong. If this is true, then what is to be made of Jesus' Words above? In the verses above, Jesus clearly commands people to judge, commends people for judging, and judges himself.

The key point to understand is that not all judgment is wrong, just various types of judgment. The types of judgment that are wrong according to Jesus are condemnation, as well as hypocritical and self-righteous judgment. On the other hand, right judgment is commended by Jesus as we see above. Right judgment includes the judging of truth versus falsehood. The sincere, serious and sober judgment of our own sins, as well as the gentle, and compassionate judgment and correction of other's beliefs or sins.

Answer 2

"Judge not lest you be judged" is probably the most quoted - and misunderstood - verse in the Bible - ripped out of context and misunterpreted.
When Jesus says "Do not judge," he is warning people against heaping criticism and condemnation on others without being willing to examine their own behavior - harshly condemning other people while attempting to justify their own sinfulness.
We should look at the balancing texts in Scripture to get a grasp on whats being said, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment" (John 7:24) or "Is it not those who are inside [the church] that you are to judge?" (1 Cor. 5:12) for example. If all judging is forbidden - there would be no boundaries - the body of Christ would not be a body - it would be some sort of gaseous vapor!
We need to correctly understand what kind of judgment Believers are supposed to render - especially in comparison with the judgments of God.
God judges in the temporal and the eternal. In this life God will judge a person's actions, but always (except when the person has irrevocably rejected Him) holds out the chance for turning back and repenting. Only on the Last Day will God pronounce eternal judgment on a person, forever determining his or her destinies. From this judgment, there is no appeal or second chance.
The Believer, on the other hand, is never given the right or the responsibility of eternally judging anyone. Believers cannot correctly weigh action, motives, opportunities - can't know all things about any individual: God alone is capable of this.
However, Believers are to make decisions (appraisals, discernments, and even take corrective actions). But even judging in this aspect is intended to be restorative - to leave the door open to the person for repentance and reconciliation. Any judging on the part of a Believer which does not do this, is a false aspect of Believer judgment. We are called upon to ''judge with righteous judgment'' and failure to do so is to neglect a crucial aspect of our calling.

Answer 3

It's human nature... not even religion can regulate that.

There's some good out of the whole virtue... like "don't judge a book by it's cover" which is a good practice when it comes to both books and people.

But there are times when you can't help but to judge... and to me I base my judgment on people's actions and the responsibility or lack thereof of their actions. To use the book analogy, some people might have a beautiful cover, but the content / what's on the inside, and the actions could be very ugly... so if I based my judgment on the cover I could end up being very wrong... just as someone who might have a bad exterior, might end up being a very good person, even though they do not appear so on the outside.

Answer 4

A lot of what you say falls under the realm of subjectivity and contingent knowledge.

In one sense, you are right. You do have a right to judge, so long as you allow the person the right do so as well with whatever standard they would like to use.

In another sense, whatever you or the other person may say, its only a formulation of an opinion. It cannot be characterized as objective - which is rathr funny since most people who are into "judging" take their opinion to be an accurate depiction of Reality.

And in a Pragmatic/Practical sense - the manner in which you judge and what criteria you use may in fact alienate you from experiences and people that on an emotional level you could enjoy.

Judgments are necessary - but the act cannot exist solely in a vaccum.

Answer 5

Without judgment, we would not survive.

However, there is a certain religion that holds the tenet that a supreme being will be the final judge and we do not have the capacity to make those judgments. If that is the religion you follow, you should probably follow it completely and not judge lest ye be judged yourself.

The real problem comes when people judge others, but not themselves.

Answer 6

Judging in haste is usually the problem but making sounds judgments is a good thing

Answer 7

peace be upon you
We just advice people when we see them do something may be wrong and clear to them how it may harm them .
But at the end , who knows where is the good or the evil ? .
We are humans and we may be wrong at anytime.
Only the God judge us according to his law and wisdom , Also the prophets was saying that they are from muslims and not upon them .

Answer 8

Unfortunately it is human nature to judge, just don't let it lead to prejudice, besides the ultimate decision is not ours it is God's.

Answer 9

Yes but only juridically if your an appointed Judge.

As Christians we are supposed to forgive.

Answer 10

As a Christian, my job is to love the person and judge the sin.