Judging: Can You Let Go?

Is it possible to let go of judging others? How about letting go of judging ourselves? Many of us are familiar with the saying, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.” Maybe when we judge others what we are really doing is judging ourselves at the same time. Some say that our outer world is just a reflection of our inner world, how we truly feel about ourselves.

Often we do not even allow the other person a chance to explain, make amends or change. By judging we are drawing conclusions, it makes it final. How often are we wrong about our judgments? It seems to be unconscious human nature to categorize people by their race, colour, gender or religion and then pass judgment on them.

It might be that when we judge another we are holding ourselves above the other person. We do not always have all the facts or the whole story. This might be a difficult concept to grasp for many but I think that when we judge others it can be that what we see in the other person is what we dislike in our Self. We are rejecting something in our self that we are not consciously aware of. How can we truly judge when we don’t know the other person’s circumstances in life? I like the saying, “I am neither superior nor inferior to anyone.”

Judgment can also come from feelings of inadequacy, envy and jealousy. It is not always easy to see that within us. We might think we are just making a comment or giving our opinion of the other person. Most of the time if we become emotionally charged while doing this it’s an indication that some feelings need to be resolved.

We often judge others by their actions and not their intentions. Judging is often an unconscious act. Our life is a reflection of our actions. If you want love and peace in the world, than create more love and peace in your heart. Life will give you back everything you give to it. If you want to be happy maybe that can be achieved through practicing more compassion.


Every day we are called upon to make value judgments in day-to-day decisions. There is a difference between discerning and judging. Judging others will take you out of peace. Discernment provides us with wisdom, insight and compassion.

We cannot possibly pass judgment on another without error. How can we see things 100% through someone else’s eyes? We can learn to let go of judging our fellow man and come from a genuine heart full of love, and understanding.