Teaching Our Children To Judge
A great post by Mitchel Owens at ForTheFamily.org
Does the notion of teaching children to judge make you nervous? Does it seem wrong? Aren’t we suppose to love one another, not judge one another?
The world tells kids (and adults) not to judge because judging equals intolerance. In an effort to bolster the argument, some may even point out that Jesus said we shouldn’t judge each other.
Such reasoning sounds good, right?
Wrong.
We MUST teach our children to judge if we hope to prepare them to one day stand firm in their faith.
The irony of the world using Matthew 7:1 (the “judge not” verse) as support for tolerance – more precisely a Christian’s tolerance of sin – is that the world doesn’t actually believe in the validity of the Bible (except when it’s convenient).
{read the rest of this post at ForTheFamily.org}
Walk with the King,
Judge- yes; condemn- no. People often mistake judgement for condemnation. As Christians, we are called to judge behavior according to Biblical standards; however, I would not deem to label one’s standing with God as only God truly knows the condition of one’s heart.
Very well said! I love the point about the world not understanding what Matthew really means by “judge not” and then at the end where the author states “The goal is to teach our children to judge sin, not the sinful person. We can’t send our kids into the world telling them to use good judgment if we haven’t taught them how to judge appropriately.”
Sometimes I wonder how many adults out there really haven’t even learned that themselves. I know I’m learning it now.
I think of it less as judgment and more as discerning between God’s way and the world’s, between genuine love that seeks the best for others and indifference or hatred that flat doesn’t care about eternal destiny and what is truly best for others. I heard a sermon once that said the Treasury Department did not examine counterfeit currency to recognize it as counterfeit but became so familiar with genuine currency that the counterfeit could be easily recognized. If we both by example and teaching–lead our children into a relationship with Jesus, as opposed to into religious practice, that love relationship will weather the challenges of the world. You can’t tell me there’s no God, no Father in heaven, no Jesus, no Holy Spirit because I know Him and He alone does have the Words of Life.
Hugs,
Mary
I agree with your sentiment Mary. But, it all seems like semantics to me. It’s still a judgment. The world has attached bigotry to judgment, but in fact, judgment is a necessary tool for living successfully. We judge dangerous situations, we judge whether the milk is still good or if it should be thrown out, if we should eat one last cupcake, etc…we make daily judgments in our lives. Judgment is not a dirty word…until you add condemnation and hypocrisy to it. These are the words we should avoid along with judgments rooted in ignorance. Studying the Lord’s word and making sound judgments based on it are a part of life, imo. <3
I agree that it is ironic that the world uses Bible verses when it is convenient to their argument, but perhaps they feel justified in quoting the Bible to us, since we DO hold it as our standard. It would be like me asking a Jew or a Muslim why they were eating pork – it isn’t wrong for me, but isn’t it wrong for them?
Thank you for being so willing to talk about the tough subjects!
I will teach my children what the bible says. Judge the sin, not the person. Hate the sin, not the person. We are all sinners. Our children MUST be taught to make judgements that are biblical based on what is right and what is wrong but taught also to LOVE everyone and pray for everyone as well.
Thank you for sharing. In my circle of friends the words ‘don’t offend’ pop up. Too often we are scared to do the right thing due so these words, but I have learned, and am still learning that we need not worry about what the world has to say, but lean wholly on what the Bible says. I don’t know lot about the Bible because I was not taught to read it until recently when we changed churches. Our Pastor has given a challenge for the congregation to read the Bible in 1 year. I have learned so much that I didn’t realize was even in the Bible and I am teaching it to my kids. I am so glad that there are other groups out here encouraging us to know our Bible and what it says! Again thank you for sharing this.