by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
We cannot see what is going on inside someone. That’s obvious, but sometimes our judgments about people assume that everything should be normal for them because we can’t see anything outwardly wrong. If we see them acting in ways we would otherwise expect, we might judge them to be rude, or worse. When someone is dealing with internal issues that affect their interactions with others, it’s easy to lose patience or think that the person just doesn’t care or is being selfish. We judge the feelings of others based on how we think they should feel, and this can lead to serious misjudgments and assumptions that change how we treat them. Our judgment is often based on outward appearance when, internally, there may be another story to tell.<\/p>\n
This drives home to me why we need to be merciful. I’m not talking about going easy on sin. We just need to be aware that problems suffered aren’t always visible, and these are not issues that can be fixed by just telling people to get over it or have more faith. There are complex issues that may involve physical problems in the brain (e.g., a lack of dopamine in patients with Parkinson’s disease), which can impact movement, emotions, and cognitive functions. One’s whole system is affected. However frustrating it may seem, know that the person dealing with it is even more frustrated.<\/p>\n
What do we do about it? Be patient, merciful, and kind. Be a help. Be aware. Pray for one another. Let people know you care.<\/p>\n
“Strengthen the weak hands,<\/em>
\nand make firm the feeble knees.<\/em>
\nSay to those who have an anxious heart,<\/em>
\n‘Be strong; fear not!<\/em>
\nBehold, your God<\/em>
\nwill come with vengeance,<\/em>
\nwith the recompense of God.<\/em>
\nHe will come and save you’<\/em>” (Isaiah 35:3-4).<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Doy Moyer We cannot see what is going on inside someone. That’s obvious, but sometimes our judgments about people assume that everything should be normal for them because we can’t see anything outwardly wrong. If we see them acting in ways we would otherwise expect, we might judge them to be rude, or worse.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[713,508],"class_list":["post-89872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-judging-others","tag-mental-illness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89703,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/be-merciful\/","url_meta":{"origin":89872,"position":0},"title":"Be Merciful","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer We cannot see what is going on inside someone. That's obvious, but sometimes our judgments about people assume that everything should be normal for them because we can't see anything outwardly wrong. If we see them acting in ways we would otherwise expect, we might judge them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87002,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/judging-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":89872,"position":1},"title":"Judging Others","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Some think Matthew 7:1 forbids any judging of others. Actually, it only forbids unfair and hypocritical judging where the one doing the judging has a bigger issue that does not allow him to see clearly how to remove a \"speck\" in his brother's eye. Now, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61678,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lets-revisit-judge-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":89872,"position":2},"title":"Let’s Revisit “Judge Not”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Each time we speak or write on an issue of sin, we have told what God has said about that sin. When we do that, we are relaying God's judgment\u00a0(what He has said and the necessary implications of what He said). We are not making up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68342,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-judge-is-standing-at-the-door\/","url_meta":{"origin":89872,"position":3},"title":"The Judge Is Standing at the Door","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door\" (James 5:9). Don't forget that the Judge is not off in some distant land attending to more important matters than our words\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46955,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/judging-with-righteous-judgment\/","url_meta":{"origin":89872,"position":4},"title":"Judging with Righteous Judgment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper The world's favorite Bible passage must surely be\u00a0Matthew 7:1, where Jesus said, \"Judge not, that you be not judged.\" This verse is most often cited when someone points out a sin in the life of another and the accused one is then quick to reveal the depths\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47377,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/non-sequitur\/","url_meta":{"origin":89872,"position":5},"title":"Non-Sequitur","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gardner Hall True, but careful with \"therefore\" True statement: \"We don't know how far God is going to extend His mercy.\" \"Therefore\"\u2026 (fallacies often follow..) \"It is not important to be concerned with having scriptural precedent for our spiritual practices.\" \"We can judge that others who have serious spiritual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89872\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}