I don't claim to know a lot, but having lived for nineteen years I have learned a few things. Recently I've thought a lot about judging. It's something that I have struggled with myself and I think it's one of the hardest commandments to follow because it's so much a part of so many of us. We all have different things that we judge people for. For some it's the way people dress, for others it's the way people speak. There are millions of different things that different people judge others for. Some people even judge others for being too righteous. I honestly can't think of anyone that I know that isn't entirely void of it; it's part of the natural man.
Being judged by others is hard, especially when it's people you really care about. One thing that I have done to handle this better is to take it in stride. It doesn't matter if people think that you should do things differently because it is ultimately your choice. We all need to decide for ourselves what we think is right and wrong. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that you should ignore what others say because a lot of older people really do know better. What I'm saying is that they don't always know what is right for you and that is what is bad about judging. No one knows exactly what is going on inside someone's head. They don't know why they do the things they do. Therefore, it is never their place to judge. I'm not saying you can't observe what others are doing and think to yourself that you don't agree with what they are doing, that is righteous judgement, but I do think that it isn't our place to look down on them because of it. It is much more important to be love.
I think college helped me see how bad it is to judge even more clearly. I was around a lot of incredible people, but we all have different standards in different areas. Things that I felt like need to be followed very strictly others didn't and vice versa. I've found that that seems to be one of the mail causes of judging. We all have different ideas but that does not always mean that one way is right or wrong. That has been the biggest help to me in not judging others. I'm still not even close to perfect at it, but it has helped me a lot.
Judging is a nasty trap of Satan's that can ensnare event the best of us. It's something that I want to try to avoid even more in my life so that I can become more like our Savior who was the best example of this to ever live. And what's more is I want to work on not letting the sting of offense and hurt that accompanies someone's judgement of me to ruin a day or especially a friendship. This is my life. I have felt my Savior's love telling me that he is pleased with me and that is more than enough because he is the ultimate judge and as long as a try a little harder every day to be a little better I think I'll be just fine.
