Healthy and unhealthy ways to judge.

Have you ever been misjudged? It is a painful experience. You cannot defend yourself and it causes negatives such as loss of confidence, anger, sadness, etc.

Have you ever been accused of being judgemental?  It is so easy to fall into that trap for example - thoughtlessly agreeing with an item of gossip, believing ill of someone simply because of a rumour, misjudging something because of lack of investigation, etc.

So often we are guilty of snap judgements or accepting someone else’s point of view. We listen to a news report, or a current scandal, and make a decision without really knowing the facts. However, there are many types of judging……

Various types of judging:

Krino (Greek: To pronounce an opinion)

The function of this type of judging is to come to a decision, accepting something or rejecting it. To make a decision whether something is right, or wrong.

Anakrino (Greek: ‘to examine or judge’)

This is a level higher than Krino; “the process of careful study, evaluation and judgement” (J.B. Lightfoot).

It can be likened to the forensic analysis of something.

Diakrino (Greek: determine, give judgment, decide a dispute)

This takes judgement a step deeper; careful examination ‘back-and-forth’ /discern / dispute/properly investigate/ to separate, make a distinction, discriminate, to prefer.

Hopefully this would be the process in a court of law before a judgement is passed of guilty/not guilty!

In life we do have to make judgements, it shapes who we are and what we stand for and it also determines our future. How many rash decisions have led to lifetimes of misery and yet how blessed we are when we have made the right decision. However, we cannot judge others.

Martin Israel said: “When I start to tell you what is good and what is bad, and what you should do and what you shouldn’t do, I immediately fill you with my own prejudices.”

Elvis Presley’s bible went on auction Aug 2012. Many annotations on the pages. One such is:         “To judge a man by his weakest link or deed is like judging the power of the ocean by one wave.