One of the commandments of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount is “Thou shalt not judge.” Human beings judge all the time. Is this good or bad for me? Should I do this or that? In fact, you might even say that judging is what separates us from animals. The commandment of Jesus has a specific focus — thou shalt not judge the worth of another human being. The reason why is provided in the Old Testament lesson: “Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” In other words, we can judge whether this or than action is good but we cannot judge whether this or that person is good. God alone knows what is in their heart, what wounds they have endured, what motivates them, what their intention is. We are called to love every human being as a child of God no matter what, even when their behavior is not what we would consider worthy.
