Assessing other’s behavior is a necessary part of life.  All of us are routinely evaluated on our performance.  Good evaluations can actually help us to grow in our skills and improve our performance.  Judging is making a negative evaluation of others solely for the purpose of improving our reputation or sense of worth.  Jesus warns us against judging others because it is primarily destructive and dishonest if we are blind to our own faults.  However, he does say that if we first recognize our own shortcomings we can help each other to grow in our righteousness.  Next Sunday we will discover how we can grow in our relationships and righteousness.