Don't be so judgmental...

I've really been enjoying Donald Miller's blog a lot lately, maybe because he writes about stuff that matters, like fatherlessness (and what we can do about it) and writing good stories with our lives, rather than settling for lousy ones!


So, recently he brought up the subject of judging others (June 11th: The Power of Listening without Judging) and then presented the challenge not to judge for any reason, for about thirty days... (June 14th: The Stuff of Good Friendships)

In the 6/14 post he says:

Last week I opened a discussion about being judgmental, and how a good listener can listen without judging the person he is listening to. I asked us to pay attention to when we think less of people and asked us to ponder our motives…

Now to clarify, I am not talking about judging actions, I am talking about judging people, that is, thinking less of them, that they are less valuable, somehow, because of what they are doing or saying or even wearing.... (entire post)

It's been almost a week since I first read all this and became so painfully aware of my own judgmental tendencies... yuck! (Certainly I knew it was in there and that it was no good, but somehow I never really considered how to deal with it or had any urgency eliminate it!)

Well, the urgency is here now, and I'm glad... As he talks about in the 6/11 post, I want my friends, family, strangers even, to feel safe and loved and valued and free to be completely themselves -regardless of any differences in personality or lifestyle or dress...

Anyone else impacted by this?
I'd love to hear your thoughts!