Thou Art Inexcusable

Paul wrote to the Romans, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1-3) Even though we must indeed judge what is right and wrong and make judgments about how we will best live our life in accordance with gospel principles, it is not our place to condemn or pass judgment on others. Elder Uchtdorf quoted this passage from Paul in general conference and commented, “The moment we judge someone else, he explained, we condemn ourselves, for none is without sin. Refusing to forgive is a grievous sin—one the Savior warned against.” He continued, “This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following: Stop it! It’s that simple. We simply have to stop judging others and replace judgmental thoughts and feelings with a heart full of love for God and His children.” We need not pass final judgments on others because that is God’s responsibility, and we should be grateful not to have that responsibility as Paul explained: “[God] will render to every man according to his deeds…. As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;… God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:6, 12, 16). The Savior put it this way in our dispensation: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:10-11).

And so, our focus should be on loving others and improving our own deeds when perhaps we observe those who sin just as we do. When Alma spoke to his son Shiblon after they preached the gospel to the self-righteous Zoramites, he gave this wise counsel: “Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times” (Alma 38:14). Paul reminded the Romans as well that we all are in sin; indeed, we are all unworthy before God: “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one…. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). As we notice others who make mistakes we must avoid the temptation to feel that we are “better than they” but rather learn from what we observe and acknowledge our sins before God. The Savior put it this way in the Sermon on the Mount: “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye” (Matthew 7:2-5). And so, when we feel that we have observed a mote in our brother’s eye, we should turn inward to see how we can remove our beams. Moroni gave us this invitation particularly for our day: “He that condemneth, let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire…. For behold, the same that judgeth rashly shall be judged rashly again; for according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord. Behold what the scripture says—man shall not smite, neither shall he judge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord” (Mormon 8:17-20). Gratefully, we can leave judgment to God while we seek to bring our own works in accordance with His commandments. When we are tempted to condemn others because of their sins, we can instead pray to God that He will remember them in mercy and help us in our own unworthiness.