“Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.”
Zechariah 7:9-10

I love “true judgment” in the first verse. Usually, when we judge, we do it pretty selfishly. We label someone or decide that people aren’t worth our time because of something about them or something they’ve done, or often just because they aren’t like we are in some way.

I don’t think that true judgment is like that. True judgment probably takes into account ourselves and other people’s circumstances and sees us as we actually all are: Imperfect, and in need of help from each other. Part of that true judgment is to show mercy and compassion to the people around us, to not oppress people who already are oppressed by circumstance, and to never imagine evil against others. It sounds like it makes sense, right? But how often do we actually live up to that?

Individually, we probably need to watch our thoughts more, and make sure they are loving and not revenge fantasies. But also, we can help strangers, the poor, widows, and the fatherless when we encounter them. We can also do more like members of our society to contribute less to the oppression or suppression of others. Today, let’s remember that compassion is part of true judgment, and work at showing it to others. And, on the other side, let’s make sure we aren’t participating in the oppression of anyone.