Every day we all make some judgments in our lives. We judge the music we listen to, the books we read, the TV or movies we watch. We judge our appearance, our acts (or lack of them) and our thoughts. We also judge others in at least a small portion, if not a large one�bear with me, I know you're probably thinking we should NEVER judge others. All of these judgments are justified. How would we progress if we did not assess the situations we live in? What would happen to our spirits if we didn't choose carefully what we do with our time or whom we spend it with? The key in all things is righteousness and that includes judging.

Moroni 7:15-17 states: "For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him."

We know that Jesus often judged others during his ministry here on the earth. How would He have forgiven the sinners if He had not first judged them to be such? How could He choose which men to be His disciples without judging who would be best for the job? You probably think I'm treading on thin ice here because as the Savior He had every right to judge others, but let's look more deeply into His example and see how he passed judgment. Did he do it with bitterness and spite or love and compassion?

I'm sure that many of you can recite the passage in Samuel that states, "�for the Lord seeth not as a man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7) While we do not have the privilege of being able to look at the intent of another's heart, we can still give them the benefit of the doubt. We can believe that no matter what a person has said or done, that in their heart they had nothing but the best intent. We can accept that while we may see one thing, we probably do not see the whole picture or know the whole story.

In Zechariah 7:9 we read, "�Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother" and later in 8:16, "�execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates".

We would do well to think about HOW we pass judgments. I have an experience that demonstrates what I mean. There was a woman who came to the program I run for pregnant women. I was still setting up when she got there and she started talking to one of the other moms who happened to also be my helper. The woman explained that she wasn't sure if she should really be there because she didn't know what she was going to do and her boyfriend thought she should get an abortion. Now, where I work I am not allowed to broach this topic. The news really saddened my heart and I felt myself turning cold towards her�ready to throw her in with the bunch of sinners who choose to do this to a precious spirit of God. But, I caught myself and decided to instead pray for her that she would find the strength to make a righteous choice. I was also extra careful to treat her with kindness and respect.

To my surprise, when woman returned the next week, she pulled out some scriptures�not just a bible, mind you, but an entire quad! Again, I felt myself passing an unkind judgment upon her�how could someone who was a member of the church even consider the choice she was considering? Shame one her -- but no, shame on me! Once again, I caught myself and began to pray for her even harder. Four days later, I saw the woman at church. She was sitting with the missionaries and that day I would learn that the sister missionaries were inspired to knock on her door the very same week I first saw her.

I remember feeling the guilt rush into me as I realized that I could have turned her completely away. If I had turned a cold shoulder to her as I had first chosen, based on my unrighteous judgment of her, this woman may very well have seen me at church been so uncomfortable that she didn't come back. I am so thankful that I did not have to see that happen. Instead, I have had the honor of seeing her baptized, watching her become the most loving mother imaginable and turning her life for the good.

You never really do know what a person is going through or which step of the journey to exaltation they are taking. God touches our hearts and spirits just one at a time. We can either be a tool working for Him or an obstacle working against Him. I challenge you to think twice about the judgments you make this week and decide if they are righteous judgments.

"And now, my brethern, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged." (Moroni7:18)

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