[371 words]
A man was hoeing his garden in a chair. Said the passerby to himself, “What laziness!” However, closer observation revealed to the passerby a pair of crutches leaning against the chair. The passerby was guilty of that unnecessary exercise called “jumping to conclusions.”
Be honest! Very little effort is required for attaching the worst connotation possible to the decisions or actions of others. Yes, it is so easy to jump to conclusions, ignoring or being void of all the facts behind the decisions and actions of others.
So what will help us be more fair in the concepts we have of one another and the conclusions we draw about one another? From the words of Jesus in that familiar passage (Matt. 7:1-5) there are several things we need to remember.
First, it is wrong to judge impetuously and jump to conclusions about another. Jesus said, “Judge not.”
Second, life is a mirror; we receive from it what we put into it. Jesus warned, “With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” Matt. 7:2). Yes, if we jump to conclusions about others, others will jump to conclusions about us.
Third, jumping to conclusions will adversely affect our relationship with fellow-brethren. Such is inevitable when we capitalize on the faults of brethren–“ the mote that is in thy brother’s eye”–and fail to consider our own faults–“the beam that is in thine own eye” (Matt. 7:3).
Fourth, jumping to conclusions will adversely affect our concept of self. Such transpires when our actions say to another, “Let me pull the mote out of thine eye,” but at the same time a beam is in our own eye (Matt. 7:24).
Fifth, jumping to conclusions will adversely affect our relationship with God. Yes, jumping to conclusions makes us a “hypocrite” (Matt. 7:5).
We may not be blind to the faults of others, but let us at least be fair to one another in reference to these faults. Remember, “the crosses people bear are seldom in plain sight!”
“Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 4:24). Would that not be great?
Dan Winkler
via Chapman Church of Christ
Ripley, MS