“…you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.
The above is a thought-provoking and arresting observation of Paul’s. He’s saying that the very thing we judge another to be doing we are doing likewise. Ouch.
But honestly, it’s true. Catch yourself next time you’re lobbing judgements at another and ask, “Am I doing the same thing, but perhaps in a different way?”
Maybe you’re judging them as mean and callous. Take an honest look at your own attitude. Are you exhibiting some meanness and callousness too? Maybe you’re accusing them of being close-minded and selfish. Ask, “Am I exhibiting any type of close-mindedness or selfishness?”
The old saying, “We see in others what we hold in ourselves,” can be very humbling to consider.
The best judgments are spiritual judgements. Rather than being quick to condemn another with mortal shortcomings, concentrate on anointing them with spiritual truth. Instead of being a condemner, be a healer. See the good in them. Love them. Bless them.
The less harsh judgements we have flowing around in this world, and the more love we have taking its place, the faster humanity is going to progress in learning how to get along with each other, and flourish as one family under God, divine Love. It starts with you and me.
Thank you, Evan, you are so right! Jesus said “if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”
This is such a needed wake up call and a loving treatment to start the new week and month. Thank you so much Evan for continuing love and guidance.
The sixth Tenet :
And we solemnly promise to watch and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just and pure. MARY BAKER EDDY. The word ‘promise’ stands out!
We can acknowledge God as the Judge of all the earth,
and play our part by letting God judge His righteous judgement, and confine ourselves to loving our fellow
man, and looking for the perfect man, as Christ Jesus taught us, right where a sinning mortal seems to be.
.
My Top 10 citations from this week’s Sept. 7 Bible Lesson on Man (Part 1)
-Rom. 8:16 … The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
-S&H 97:17 … The more material the belief, the more obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its domain, dominates all matter, and man is found in the likeness of Spirit, his original being.
John 14:6 … I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
-S&H 286:3-6 … We must not seek the immutable and immortal through the finite, mutable, and mortal, and so depend upon belief instead of demonstration, for this is fatal to a knowledge of Science.
S&H 325:7-8 … Jesus gave the true idea of being which results in infinite blessings to mortals.
Interesting selections. You are an early morning reader, obviously. Could you tell me how those relate to Evan’s daily teaching?
Richard…thanks…they don’t directly…Evan’s site is a way for me to express my thoughts…most of the time, I comment on what his message is, but other times I diverge…I appreciate Evan letting me go in a different direction.
Thank you, Mark, for posting these each week. I truly enjoy them as they’re all powerful and healing. ❣️
Thank you Evan and alll. That starts my day with Love for all
“Why choose kindness?” Kindness inspired by God, divine Love itself, isn’t “just being nice” – it fuels redemption and healing. By Larissa Snorek. From the May 16, 2025 issue of The Christian Science Monitor:
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2025/0516/Why-choose-kindness/?src=shared
J, Thank you. Excellent article.
Thank you J. for this inspiring and helpful Monitor article.i must listen to it again!
Thank you, Evan for today’s SpiritView with such an utmost important subject!
How often did I feel upset when I thought another person did or said something wrong to me. But I knew I have to love and first correct my thinking and forgive. I had to pray to love instead of being angry. But God is Love and we, His children are the Image of Love and therefore cannot else but love my brother and neighbor etc. Oh yes, I will concentrate on anointing my brothers and sisters with spiritual Truth! ♡
I was listening to Ray Dalio’s book titled Principles: Life and Work last night. “Radical open mindedness” Ralio advocates in dealing with situations along with radical honesty. How can that be practiced I wondered. Dalio recommends keeping your thought open to others’ ideas and how they view the situation. He described it as a great learning experience as one of its benefits. Mind expresses Itself through its intelligent ideas so being open to fresh ideas from others can expand our judgment regarding work and life. Perhaps the most radical open mindedness is the thought “Thy will be done.”
We tend to judge situations and their options on past experiences which can be limiting. In listening to an audiochat on JSH on “Active Living in Advancing Years”, the practitioner Carol McFall talks about being open to possibilities each day. Spiritual adventure urges less judgment and limiting views of people, situations and opportunity. It’s relaxing to not have to judge people and situations. Like a load being removed from our backs in trying to figure things out humanly.
I agree Lindajane, it’s a relief and very freeing to have those moments when we see it’s not our job to judge or condemn others, I’ve heard it described as “playing God.”
As they say, When you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you. Meaning it’s wise to remember we have plenty of our own spiritual work to be doing, before we have the luxury to judge others. Judging and gossiping are popular pastimes in workplaces and other social settings, and a good way to distract ourselves from more important and seemingly difficult things we could be focusing our time and energy on. It’s like snacking on nutritionless candy instead of eating a healthy meal, feels like an easy fix but has no true substance.
Love the message above, “Choose Kindness.” And it is a choice, moment-by-moment, leaning on God.
I agree Lindajane, it is a relief and freeing to have those moments where we see it’s not our job to judge and condemn others, which I’ve heard described as “playing God.”
As they say, When you point a finger at someone there are three fingers pointing back at you. Meaning we have plenty of spiritual work of our own to do before we can judge another. Judging others and gossiping is a popular pastime in workplaces and other social settings and a good way to distract ourselves from more important and maybe seemingly difficult things that we could be focusing our time and energy on. It’s like snacking on nutrition-less candy instead of eating a healthy meal. It feels like an easy fix but has no true substance.
I agree Lindajane, it is a relief and freeing to have those moments where we see it’s not our job to judge and condemn others, which I’ve heard described as “playing God.”
As they say, When you point a finger at someone there are three fingers pointing back at you. Meaning we have plenty of spiritual work of our own to do before we can judge another. Judging others and gossiping is a popular pastime in workplaces and other social settings and a good way to distract ourselves from more important and maybe seemingly difficult things that we could be focusing our time and energy on. It’s like snacking on nutrition-less candy instead of eating a healthy meal. It feels like an easy fix but has no true substance.
Sorry, don’t know how two messages got posted…ah technology….
Three, whoops!
That’s all right re: 3 messages. No one will judge you for it here. Just joking.
Appreciated your comment about “playing God”. I realized this year when I would try to figure out how to help people, what they needed, or plan upcoming events like a family get-together with my son and family and figure out what we’d do, what take-out to get etc.. I realized I was “playing God” as you described. It’s so freeing to not do that and just let God be God, like Reagan be Reagan. See what seemed right at the moment which was usually different than what I’d chosen. Kindness seems akin to grace which is like unearned favor – it is bestowed on you. You didn’t have to earn it or work for it. I try to practice kindnesses throughout the week. That’s a daily spiritual adventure. Am trying to think of kindnesses which don’t cost $ necessarily which can be done locally. If you think of any, would love to hear them.
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Psalm.19:12. I was just thinking about this today. Keeping ourselves humble in keeping with God and recognizing an error, handling it and casting it out.
Thank you Evan and all.
I found the Carol McFall talk through Jsh online but don’t know how to copy that link here. Am working with the ideas brought forth. Thanks Evan for your SV and all who contribute.
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/sentinel-audio/audio-chats/active-living-in-advancing-years?_gl=1*1ha6utg*_ga*MTUwNDE3ODMwNS4xNjU5OTcyMTcx*_ga_82T1KK2N0J*czE3NTY3MzYxOTAkbzgyMiRnMSR0MTc1NjczNzAyMCRqNDUkbDAkaDA.
I think that link may require a subscription. Here’s another link just in case the link Diane shared doesn’t work for you.
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/103icqd4gaw?s=copylink
Thanks, Diane
Thank you all for these helpful thoughts. I agree, Debbie, of trying to keep ourselves
humble and recognizing an error, handling it and casting it out. This reminds me
of Jesus, as humble and calm as he was, in overturning the tables of the money-
changers. He didn’t let them continue in ways that would be harmful, but would
always have the “get thee behind me, satan” attitude, thus correcting the common
belief in material mindedness and not giving it power. He didn’t make money or
anything an idol or keep making it a god, but forgave, as he instructed others to do
and moved on in his more spiritual ways. In this way, love was/is reflected in
Love and “helped humanity progress and flourish as one family under God” (- Evan’s
wise words of wisdom). In following Jesus’ – Christ’s example, we, too, are humble
in trying to see the Good in others, as it is in ourselves and seeing the spiritual view
of things.
Thank you Evan…so true.
John chapter 8 relates the way Jesus dealt with the accusations of others so determined to stone the adulterous woman. Of course.. none were so guilt free to be able to throw one stone and finally Jesus compassionately let her walk away.
Maybe we don’t feel we can love a certain mortal person from time to time but to see them in their true nature , as Gods child must be the goal….I love Evan’s last sentence..’ it starts with you and me ‘’..spreading Gods Love.
Looking forward to reading the article J and the audio Diane.
Thank you SV❣️
Last night when praying for healing it occurred to me to change my prayer from an “I” based prayer to a “we” based prayer. In other words, instead of just praying for healing for “me”, I realized I should include everyone in my treatment. Then I remembered how in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus uses “our” instead of “my” (i.e., “Our Father,” not “My Father”…”Forgive us”…”lead us”…”deliver us”…). I think doing this will help me to avoid judging others because I will be learning to see the truth about everyone, not just me. I realized how hard it would be for me to see the true identity of myself while continuing to hold a false identity about someone else. For example, instead of praying “I have one Mind, God,” I now pray “Everyone has one Mind, God”. If you’d like to start praying like this with me, please feel free to do so! I think everyone would really appreciate it!!! 🙂
So true! Thanks for the reminder. Love your neighbor who is yourself as a translation from the Aramaic says.
It is impossible to bless and to judge at the same time. So hold constantly as a deep, hallowed, intoned thought that desire to bless, for truly then shall you become a peacemaker, and one day you shall, everywhere, behold the very face of God. Pierre Pradervand
https://gentleartofblessing.org/english-the-gentle-art-of-blessing/
Thank you Manuela, I’ve read The Gentle Art of Blessing several times, it is quite special. Pierre Pradervand the author, as some may know, was a well known Christian Scientist for many years and wrote for the CS Monitor and for the Journal. As I recall he does mention CS and Mrs. Eddy here and there in the book. But even without those mentions you can sense the influence of his CS understanding throughout.
Yes it’s “impossible to bless and judge at the same time.” Nice!
Thankyou Evan, This is very thought provoking. As Jesus said what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. this is full time employment! have to keep guard continuously. Thankyou all for your comments very helpful. love to all!