The other day I was taking one of my granddaughters to school and was driving down her street. I was asking her about the direction her mom went and was motioning with my hand to the left.

Just at that time I was passing a car parked on my right going the wrong direction. I thought the car had no one in it but just as I was making the motion with my hand, the lights came on and I realized someone was in it.

If that person saw me, they could have easily thought I was motioning to them and that I was mad because they were wrongly parked. If that were so, they would be misjudging me.

Many times we judge the intent of others before we find out the facts, but we want others to be fair with us and to give us the benefit of the doubt. I think this is what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7:1-2 where he says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Jesus wasn’t confused in his teaching. He didn’t mean we should never make a judgment about right and wrong. As he explained, he meant we shouldn’t make a judgement hypocritically.

Yes, there are times we will be judging others but we need to ask ourselves the question, “Am I doing so as I would like others to judge me?” Loving others will help us to do the right thing.