The Righteous Judge

I have been asked to speak tonight for a few minutes about "Judging" or NOT Judging others. Well to begin with,this is a topic we are ALL to familiar with and I, personally, am the QUEEN of Judging. I am not afraid or insecure about admitting this because this life truly is all one big Judgement. And I do hope that my judgement in all fairness to myself has been as the Savior would have us judge. I think it is so important to look for the good in others.

Thankfully as I was pondering and preparing I found a great resource. It is a talk given by my Mission President, Elder Robbins who is now a member of the Presidency of the Seventy and he lays out eloquently the Christ- Like way to Judge. In short here are a few simply reminders that helped me to prepare for tonight:

1. "There is only ONE way to judge righteous judgement, as Jesus Christ does, and that is to be as He is."

2. Jesus Christ was a loving judge, uncommonly wise & patient.

3. He is known in the scriptures as "the righteous judge". (2 Timothy 4:8; Moses 6:57)

4. His counsel to us is to also "judge righteous judgment" (See Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 7:1-2, footnote a)

5. "Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good... (and) to judge righteously" (D&C 11:12)

The Savior always found and looked for the good in others. He was not afraid to stand up for his mission or his purpose in this life.

He surrounded himself with his Disciples whom were good men but also learned great lessons from Jesus.

I think my favorite lesson that was taught was the parable of the woman who desperately sought forgiveness and strength in the Savior to be saved from her sins. She was known as an adultress and her testimony and faith should strengthen us all to be and to desire to be better. She reached to the Savior only wanting to touch his coat. But HE knew her. He turned and forgave her and told her "to go and sin no more."

In a crowded street the Savior taught us all to look at others with Love, compassion and kindness.

Elder Uchtdorf says, "When it comes to hating, gossiping, Ignoring, Holding Grudges, wanting to cause harm... STOP IT!!

There are many examples I could share about opportunities about not judging but we are in the human sense judges. But we can become righteous judges inside our own selves. Some things I teach and encourage my kids to do are the following:

 Be Polite...Always look for the Good... Give the benefit of the doubt... but I also I teach them that if they are around influences that are less then becoming then they can still BE Polite but it doesn't mean that they have to hang out with them. There is always an opportunity to learn and grow in all things

It is a daily challenge for us all to see the Good in Others. We are encouraged and taught to see others as Our Savior sees them. I have done this a few times and it is actually hard to get mad at that person, if you care about that someone. There are a few family members that have abused my generosity and I have chosen to stay away from them. And there are those family members who have made the amends that were needed for us both to move forward. I am grateful for these kind gestures as I have seen the Atonement work in both of our lives and it has been a blessing to have the opportunity to move forward with them.

I have learned many great lessons from this talk by my Mission president and I continue to want to learn and grow. May God bless you on your journey.

https://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=elder+robbins+the+righteous+judge

Peace & Blessings