Judgment--Every Hour, Every Instant

Sometimes judgment (in the sense of retribution and reward) is thought to be something rather remote something ultimately to be arrived at but not necessarily now something such as the “day of judgment” associated with heaven and the hereafter. But judgment doesn’t wait (not any more than compensation does) entirely for an eternal future. It is operative in many ways, whether we are aware of it or not. In some measures we judge ourselves every day, every hour, every instant.

“A man cannot speak,” said Emerson, “but he judges himself. With his will, or against his will, he draws his portrait to the eye of his companions by every word. Every opinion reacts on him who utters it.”

We judge and appraise and classify ourselves constantly by the things we choose to do with our time, our means, our money, by the people and places we prefer, by the selections we make of all of life’s activities and offerings. We are, in fact, a living reflection of all that moves in our minds, of every thought and act and utterance and intent. And what we are essentially, inside ourselves, is in itself a judgment. What we are, judges us as surely as water seeks a common surface.

Some things may seem to go undetected. But none goes unrecorded or unjudged, whether we know it or not. And while we do not know by what process God, our Father, our ultimate Judge, will appraise and reward and punish, we can know that when the picture of our life is rerun, when thoughts and acts and utterances are brought before us, and remembered, we shall sense what we deserve inside ourselves (even as we now do in some degree) and we shall need no outside accuser. We know now when there is a sincere warmth of approval within; we know when there is an inner uneasiness, and when there is cold and comfortless accusation.

We judge ourselves constantly”in silence and certainty.” The only place a man can find real peace is inside himself, and if that is what he wants, he must live to deserve inner peace and approval.