Judging Like Jesus

According to Facebook, I blogged about a year ago about how we have no right to judge others and about how judgement belongs to the Lord. However, Elder Lynn G. Robbins' talk from the October 2016 General Conference was all about how we are supposed to be righteous judges. He said:

This counsel to the Nephite Twelve will help us judge as the Lord does: “Ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27; emphasis added). We sometimes forget that when He gave the counsel to be as He is, it was in the context of how to judge righteously.

While I hold to the belief that we should not be judgemental, it is frequently necessary for us to judge others, and in those cases, as in all cases, we should follow the example of the Savior. He frequently, accurately judged the hearts and intentions of others, and He used that judgement to help Him teach.

We can do something similar. Whenever we have the opportunity to teach others, we should use our judgement to know how we can best help those we're teaching, and when we have an obligation to judge others, we can use those opportunities to teach. Jesus seldom did one without also doing the other.

There are many times when it isn't our place to judge, but there are also times when we have an obligation to judge. In any case, we should always follow the example of the Savior, Who, Elder Robbins reminds us, was "the Righteous Judge."