Peace: Righteous Judgment and a Pure Heart

Peace: A lot of people may judge you, and a lot of people may say I don't judge anyone because only God can judge you. I'm here to tell you that even the most righteous person, Christian, Mr. and Mrs. Perfect, etc. will at some point judge someone else based off of their experiences or thought process that they feel or have learned is right or wrong.

John 7:24 says judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" Meaning simply be honest and non-judgmental to people. With that being said you have to be tactful in your thought process. I'll give you an example: I'm a Registered Nurse. I've seen many instances where a patient may come into a hospital emergency department in various healthcare facilities in which I have worked at across the world.

Example 1: Nurse "A" sees a patient that comes in with a fever. She asked a few questions to see why the patient has come into the Emergency Department. The patient gives the nurse an answer of fever and a headache. The nurse then interrupts and asked the question "have you taken any medication?" The patient answers "no". The nurse responds with "Why? You know you didn't have to come here for that when you could have taken Motrin or Tylenol at home"; with body language as if she is annoyed. The patient is then ashamed; feels hurt, may become confrontational, defensive, and feel judged negatively by coming to get help. The assessment or triage continues; but instead of forthcoming, the patient is reluctant to give any additional information. The patient is escorted to a room and the nurse states "have a seat and another nurse will be with you shortly", and closes the door. 

Example 2: Nurse "B" comes in with the same scenario and asked the same questions. He gets the same response from the patient. Nurse "B" states, "I'm sorry you feel this way." The patient has a fever, and is asked about allergies, and given the appropriate medication for her symptoms. The nurse then takes the time to educate the patient "briefly" (because some ER's can get very busy) on Motrin and Tylenol and how it may help with her symptoms in the future. The patient then gives some additional information about her symptoms. She states "I was outside the country two weeks ago; and learned that I wasn't vaccinated from a contagious preventable disease process that may cause the same symptoms I'm having." She states she came to the ER to be sure she is ok and talks about a few other symptoms that have come and gone over the last two weeks. The nurse then smiles and states, "I'm glad you told me that", makes the appropriate decisions for precautions and relays the additional information to the healthcare team. Then the nurse states with a smile “No worries, our team will take great care of you. As he escorts her to the room he states "I'll come and reassess within the hour to ensure the Motrin was effective"; and continues the plan of care.

Nurse "B" took approximately 3-5 additional minutes to listen and not be judgmental. This intertwine of peace, health, and time would eventually prevent the exposure of a contagious disease process to the healthcare team, their families, and possibly the community. You see you can snowball in a negative down spin or a positive upwind. The choice is based off the decisions you choose to make.

For those individuals that are not in the healthcare field I will give another example. I have a friend that made a mistake several years ago and was legally punished for it. He's a great guy that was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people, doing the wrong things. This mistake affected his outlook on life for several years. It also affected his emotions, amongst many other things. He felt judged by many people and struggled with the mistake that he made. A couple years ago he decided to stop living in the fear of being judged and turned his life to God. Now over 15 years later my friend wanted me to witness that he has changed his life for the better as he has dedicated his life to Christ and is getting married. My response to him was "I will be there as a witness to your testimony and marriage, but have never judged you for your mistake. I have made plenty of mistakes of my own that I call ripples in the water that smooth out with time." The key thing is learning from those mistakes to grow into a better person.

Being non-judgmental of himself and me being non-judgmental from the heart; and being pure at heart gave him a new found joy of validation as he continues on the path that God ordained for him to be on.

The point is some people truly don't know what you know, wasn't brought up/raised the way you were brought up/raised, some people make mistakes that may affect an hour of their life to years of their life. A lot of people don't have the same educational background as you do, and hasn't experienced what you have experienced in life. Therefore, it's important to not be judgmental in a negative light, and shine positive light on life’s challenges as much as you can.

Remember when your heart is righteous and pure you can see situations from a different light a lot better. You become full of mercy and you are able to give people the benefit of the doubt.

I'm not saying this is easy because it's a learned behavior that you have to practice consistently. Practice and apply this to every situation as needed or prn (for my healthcare professionals). Once mastered, the aforementioned will undoubtedly give you and the receiver peace beyond measure. God Bless.