3 Nephi 14

The Savior finishes his sermon on the mount by first telling the people to not be judgmental with his famous words, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Critical people usually have it come back to haunt them. My thought about this is we usually judge people for a weakness they display. In Ether 12:27, the Lord says he gives weaknesses to people so they will be humble. Each of us has weaknesses we struggle with and the Lord promises that if we turn to him, he will turn our weaknesses into strengths. The thing I think we need to be careful about is judging people for a weakness that the Lord may have given them and not one that they have brought on themselves. And how can you tell the difference? You can't and therein lies the danger. If someone wallows in a weakness, then perhaps it isn't so wrong to notice it. But if someone is genuinely trying to do better, we would do well to help lift them. I know that when I judge people, I'm usually masking my own weaknesses.

This doesn't mean there aren't things we shouldn't judge. We would be wrong to not judge on certain things, and it is even dangerous not to in some cases. The Lord counsels us to beware of who we listen to and what we accept as truth. He gives us a standard by which we can judge and it's very simple but very true. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. So many things can appear funny, exciting, even moving. But what are the underlying results or messages of what is being presented? If it is uplifting, encourages us to be better, gives us strength, helps us to develop empathy, and most of all, would be acceptable to the Lord and brings us closer to him, then that is good fruit. If lowers us in the sense that great and divine attributes ignored and the good in us is portrayed as immoral, ignorant, incapable, weak, and unbelieving, or if it mocks religious belief, I want to turn away from it. There are all levels of this in every facet of society. Unfortunately, there is less and less that ennobles mankind and enhances dignity, and more that demeans both man and what is sacred.