judge not

One of my daughters recently told me "Our family is really judgmental." She went on to suggest that if we want to be an eternal family we are going to have to do a better job of loving and supporting each other. As a follower of Christ I try to love my fellowman. I seek to show love and acceptance to those whose lifestyle or religious beliefs are different from mine.  However, the context of my daughter's comment was not in a conversation about lifestyle, religion, or even political belief, we were talking about something totally meaningless. Maybe those are the most damaging judgments of all, the judgments about the little things that really don't matter.

In Elder Dallin Oak's BYU speech titled, Judge Not and Judging, he references the thoughts shared by Catherin Corman Perry. Sister Perry discussed the story of Mary and Martha. She concluded her analysis with this statement "Martha's self-importance, expressed through her judgment of her sister, occasioned the Lord's rebuke, not her busyness with the meal." As a modern day Martha, I am often cumbered about much serving and I don't always recognize how a hastily expressed opinion can in reality be a violation of the Lord's command to Judge Not.  I am grateful to my daughter who gently reminded me to "choose the good part."