Who are you to judge your neighbor?
—James 4:12
Leviticus 19 lists more than a dozen “do nots.” One of them is, “Do not pervert justice . . . but judge your neighbor fairly,” followed by, “Do not go about spreading slander.”
- Suspicion is not a just and fair basis for judgment.
- Accusation is not a just and fair basis for judgment.
- Gossip is not a just and fair basis for judgment.
- Dislike is not a just and fair basis for judgment.
We can’t judge justly and fairly unless we know everything about the person we are judging and know all the facts about why she does what she does. And those are things we can never know.
So, the only way to judge justly and fairly is to refuse to judge at all. Trash the gavel.
Your judgment won’t be right
if your facts are wrong.