Judging

Happy Thursday,

How is everyone doing today? We are a little over half way through the week and one day closer to the weekend. What a busy, crazy week it’s been so far. I’m back in San Diego for a few days. Love seeing so many amazing neighbors that I haven’t seen in awhile. The weather is cooler, but the humidity is still pretty intense. The pups are loving being back in San Diego and seeing all their doggy friends. I have so much to get done this week. Today, I’ll be taking my scooter to the store. I’m excited to get out a bit by myself for a store run. It’s been awhile. Drop me a comment or send me a message and let me know what you’ve all been up to. I love hearing from everyone.

I bet you might be wondering about the title of this blog? Well, it all has to do with my mind racing and one of the questions that popped into my head this morning, and that question is, “do I overly judge others? Better yet, why do I judge? I question myself sometimes and wonder why I say for example, “that Prius driver,” or, I think when I see someone do something that I wouldn’t do, or that I would do different, I think, “why?” When really, it’s not my business and in eccense, it’s a form of judgement.

I suppose, working on my book again, it’s bringing up different emotions about the religion in which I was raised and now that I’m no longer a part of it, I think about how I was taught to judge. Terms like, “they are a sheep or they are a goat,” terms that you see in the very literature that I was raised on. It distinguished people that believed in the religion where a sheep, and those that didn’t and refused to become a part of the faith, they were automatically called a goat. Public talks within the congregation where non believers were invited to come and listen, young children of belivers all were present for talks that discussed the sheep and the goats. “He will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”-Matthew 25:32 NWT. I was taught that if you aren’t a JW, then you will be judged as a goat and a goat will be cut off and destroyed at Armageddon.

I think sometimes when we are so immeresed in something, or maybe even brainwashed, we don’t see the hypocricy in certain things. I know for me, I was trained, taught or whatever you want to call it to judge those that weren’t JW’s. I was taught that all non believers, basically would be cut off from this world and destroyed by God himself in a war known as Armageddon. Only the righteous would survive or be a part of this new world.

Matthew 7:1-6 says, “Do no judge, or you will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the mearure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in you brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearnly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”-NIV.

How is it that a religion, or cult, can tell their followers not to judge others, yet they have the shunning policy in place? How can a man judge you for your sins? We have all been given the foundation to know what God wants from us and he’s also given us free choice to decide how we will live our lives. I remember when I was involved in the preaching work, I wanted to share with others the hope that I believed in, but when the organization said that one day our preaching would turn from warning to a message of doom for those who are choosing not to change their ways, I just couldn’t wrap my head around having to tell people such a message. I felt that it wasn’t my place to judge them or their lives. What a person does is between him and his creator. We were told that we were like Noah You see, Noah had to preach that God was going to bring about a flood and those that weren’t in the ark would die. So now, the JW’s feel that if you don’t become one of them, you will die at Armageddon.

Now I will say this, there are a few that believe certain circumstances will be taken into consideration for those who have slipped away from the one “true” religion of Watchtower. Those few that feel God will look into our hearts, they are the ones that are truly living the best they can. These are the ones that put on Christ’s personality and don’t judge anyone, no matter what their circumstance looks like. Those are the ones that have the “truth.” Those are the people I want to be like.

“But darling, people will talk. Whatever you do. Whatever you say. People will judge you if you’re confident and you say what’s on your mind. But they’ll also judge you once you’re quiet and shy. They’ll judge you if you eat a lot. But they’ll aslo judge you one you don’t eat much. They’ll judge you if you don’t say your opinion, but once you say it, they’ll judge you too. People will judge you. No matter what you do. So remember, it’s your life, not theirs. So be yourself, and let them talk.”-warrior_goddess.

We are judged and sadly, we judge. I know John is always telling me he works so hard not to judge and I love that about him. If he says something, he catches himself 99.9% of the time and says he will work harder at correcting the negative or judgemental thought. I know for me, I am becoming more aware of judging and my thinking. The longer I’m away from a judgemental cult/religion, the more I see how mind control works and how the leaders teach judging. They don’t see it as judging, instead, they make it look like it’s a way of protecting their followers from outside influences.

Judging others, it’s not for us to do. It’s not for me to do. I have my own issues and flaws and believe me when I tell you this, I have many. Working on me is what I need to do, because I don’t walk in someone else’s shoes to be worthy of judging them. That’s what being free from a high controlling cult is teaching me. When I look in the mirror, I want to like the person looking back at me. When I judge or behave in a way that doesn’t reflect a good person, the only thing looking back at me will be darkness.

I was told by someone within the church that I deserved to be cast out. You see, I had this friend for a very long time. When I faded out of the church, this friend chose to shun me openly and publicly. We crossed paths at a school where she was picking up her grandson and I was picking up my nieces. I told someone that that hurt my feelings and it was overheard by a house guest of this person who took it upon herself to comment on our conversation. The woman told me I deserved to be shunned. I deserved to be ignored. I deserved to be cast out, because I was now doomed to die at Armageddon, all because I was chosing to not attend the church. I told her I disagreed and she then proceeded to tell me I was already dead in God’s eyes. Funny, I allowed that to bother me and hurt me so deeply. I now realize, she was talking out of thin air. She isn’t my judge and jurry, she’s imperfect and in need of being forgiven by God and his son, just like me.

“Judging Others. Sadly, we are always critiqued, by the people that we know, by title or occupation, and by the possessions that we show. We judge by skin color, or by awards recieved, by church denomination and by what we believe. We’re judged by what we spend, or by what we give. We’re judged by age and gender, and by where we live. We’re judged by our past, and by our education, by the language that we speak, or by our nation. We evealuate cosmetically. We judge both fat and small. We judge by ones appearance. Fact is, we judge it all! Some judge because they’re paid to. Some judge intentionally. Some judge to build self worth, some judge unwillingly. BEWARE, for there is only one who eveluates every stain and smudge. Good luck amateur critics of humanity, when you face the Judge!”-quotesgram.com.

We all have a higher force to face on judgement day, whatever it is or how we believe. I suppose what I’ve learned from escaping the cult, is, it’s okay to believe you have the true religion, but what’s not okay is feeling you have the right to judge others. It’s a wonderful gift to share the amazing and wonderful word with others, but it’s not okay to overstep our boundaries and impose our belief system on someone.

Judging is not for us, it is for our creator. When you think about it, it’s pretty simple. He has taken that burden from us and that is love. I sure don’t want to judge others. I hate being judged myself. It’s always a work in progress, but I will work hard at not judging anyone.

Well guys, I hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Reach out and send me a message and let me know what you think. Don’t forget, until next time, Love Life++