Judgment vs. Discernment

“If your opinion/decision/impression of a person or yourself arrives before the word of the Lord over them—it is judgment”

…um

It took me a few minutes to let that echo. Wait… what? Whoa, okay that’s good. I have had so many times that seemed like I was using good discernment-but I wasn’t feeling entirely settled either. I want to have discernment to stay out of as much trouble as possible. I get into enough of it as it is!

Okay Lord, I hear you. I make a lot of decisions, and gather a lot of information about situations and people without ever consulting you. This makes a lot of sense. It hurts a little, but it makes sense.

I know the things about judging. We have all seen or experienced them on social media.

Eeek. 

It’s interesting to me how the Lord skips over all these “knowledge” pieces and gets to the heart of the matter. It doesn’t matter what I think or know if I am not sitting at His feet first.

What about that family member who constantly digs holes that they can’t get themselves out of? Pray about it, ask the Lord. I have found myself thinking, “Of course I will ask the Lord, but He will agree with me so I’m just gonna tell them one thing first…”

I’ve arrived first, so it is judgement.

What about that homeless person who gets plenty of handouts (according to my perspective) but doesn’t do anything with opportunities?

Um… hey self. That’s super judgmental.

Lord? Is this even possible?

“If you take the time to come from a place of rest and knowing who I AM, instead of coming from who you are then you will have eyes to see people like I do.”

When I “hear the Lord” it isn’t an audible voice most of the time. It is usually an understanding in my spirit, a picture that comes with understanding, a song, a verse, or sometimes it comes like I am replaying a memory. Less often it is an audible voice or whisper.

If you can’t hear Him yet or want to but don’t know how— set some time aside and sit with Him for a while. There’s no “perfect place” you need to be or “amount of rightness or goodness” you need— you’re His kid and He has a place for you anytime. Then wait for the world and your thoughts to quiet. Sometimes we let the thoughts float by until they slow down, sometimes we pause them. It takes a little practice to quiet ourselves, but you will get better. And He is always speaking.

If your opinion/decision/impression of a person or yourself arrives before the word of the Lord over them—it is judgment

Part of our natural human nature is to gather information. To compare and contrast to previous situations, other people our views of the world and ourselves, our thoughts, desires, frustrations and filters. The flesh part of us (mind, will, emotions) tries to get a grasp to fill in the blanks and orient itself. 

Our eyes don’t see everything we see. They see about 80% and then fill in the blanks on the rest. We aren’t seeing what we see. See Stanford study here. Umm… lean not on my understanding makes a lot more sense now. Our perceptions can filter and blind us in other ways.

We try to make things make sense— This person reminds us of that person, this situation is like one I encountered over here… etc.  The thing is…humans are entirely too good at finding patterns

Remember in school when we had those “fill in the bubble” tests? We would get concerned if three questions in a row were “answer C.” So we changed one and then found later it was three in a row. We filter through all sorts of things– how can we really judge appropriately?

So if any part of ME (first impressions, patterns, people comparisons, situation comparisons) gets to my assessment of a person or situation before I pray about it or before God shows me something… it is my judgment. 

Despite my best efforts, that’s a LOT of judgment! 

To be kingdom-bringers we need to be more invested with what God wants than what we want. His heart over my opinion, my thoughts, filters, experience. It’s a lot less of me which is painful at times but so much better.

To truly be discerning and loving— I can’t afford to let my first impressions lead. It is a distraction from seeing people as God sees them. 

It isn’t about me, it’s about Jesus. It’s about running the race set before me and keeping my eyes on Him. Not on my hurts, my fears, my judgments, my sins, my mistakes, or my understanding. Not on their words, opinions of me, agreements, injustice, sin, wrongdoing, or other beliefs. On Him. It’s always been about Jesus— and that is freeing.

Recommended books to read about judgment:

• Unoffendable by Brent Hansen
• The Bait of Satan by John Bevere
• What’s So Amazing about Grace- Phillip Yancy

You can find them at thriftbooks.com for a great price.