Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Freedom of Non-Judgment

Luke 6:37-38 - "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

From Henri Nouwen’s Here and Now, Living in the Spirit:

“Only when we claim the love of God, the love that transcends all judgments, can we overcome all fear of judgments. When we have become completely free from the need to judge others, we will also become completely free from the fear of being judged.

The experience of not having to judge cannot coexist with the fear of being judged, and the experience of God’s non-judgmental love cannot coexist with a need to judge others. That’s what Jesus means when he says: ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged.’ The connection between the two sides of this sentence is the same connection that exists between the love of God and the love of neighbor. they cannot be separated. This connection, however, is not simply a logical connection that can be thought through. It is first and foremost a connection of the heart that is made in prayer.”

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