Channeling: Judgment vs Discernment
I’ve sometimes not been sure about judgment and whether making judgments is sometimes okay or ‘bad’ (ironically, judging myself for making judgments). I know there is some usefulness in language that clarifies for us how we feel about something or someone, but I often felt myself shy away from articulating these feelings for fear of being judgmental and therefore doing something ‘wrong’…
Below is a message I channeled that discusses judgment, distinguishes discernment from judgment, and clarifies the way these two guiding energies can shape our experiences, internally and externally. I hope that it might be helpful in some way!
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Judgment is an act that is often confused and misunderstood. Many confuse judgment with a desire for honesty. They may say that they are just being honest when they claim that someone ‘is’ a particular way, or that an experience was a particular way. Yet often what they are being honest about is their judgment – not necessarily anything to do with that person or that experience outside the limitations of the speaker’s mind.
Judgment comes from a place of fear. It is the fearful ego’s tool for establishing order. If the world feels out of control, it is logical that the mind will want to organize it and order it into boxes – into what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, what is worthwhile and what is not. It is extremely limited, as it always is, when the mind is running the show, because the mind does not see the full picture. It is operating from fear. If something makes the mind uncomfortable – because it is being asked to change or grow – it is easy for the mind to make a judgment against it (this is bad, this is not for me, this is wrong) rather than to view it as an opportunity or a learning experience. Likewise, one might judge themselves in this experience (I am bad, I’m not good enough for this, I’d be wrong to do this). None of this is coming from a place of truth. It is coming from fear and restriction, a desire to be safe and for the ego to remain in control by keeping things the same.
Judgment maintains the status quo. It limits growth. It keeps you operating under the same operating system. It keeps you seeing others under the same limited lens. It does not invite an elevated perspective. It wants to keep you small, thinking small. Judgment keeps you in fear of everything that might open you to see greater truths.
Judgment is easy to fall into. It is so easy for us to judge ourselves when we do something wrong or make a mistake. Rather than accept that mistakes are normal and how we learn and grow, the ego will make a judgment: ‘you failed, you did this wrong, you are not good enough’. See again, how this is coming from fear? Your fear that you are not good enough, your fear that your mistakes make you bad.
Spirit does not make these judgments against you. Spirit remains in a state of benign neutrality. In response to a perceived mistake on behalf of a human, Spirit only responds with love and compassion, because it knows the truth: it is in making mistakes that we learn; mistakes teach us to grow deeper into love.
When Spirit observes cruelty or a lack of care, Spirit does not judge the agent as ‘bad’, rather, Spirit accepts that this individual is currently in that level of vibration. It knows that this does not make them bad but is merely a reflection of a temporary state of consciousness. It does not fall under the illusion that what someone does is who they are. Spirit never loses the perspective that only Love is real, and it will never leave that knowing. Spirit holds the infinite truth of God’s wisdom at all times. Though cruelty and hatred is not condoned, as it is not of love, it is not perceived as bad. It simply is. It is simply a step on the journey of consciousness that that soul is on. This is because Spirit knows the truth: that all is Love and all will return to that elevated state and knowing. It does not get caught up in the drama.
It is easy to feel that making judgments is necessary or important. How else will you know if someone is bad for you, or if you feel safe somewhere? Don’t we need to judge experiences to make decisions?
This is when discernment comes in. Discernment, as opposed to judgment, does not come from fear. Discernment comes from a place of alignment with one’s truth, which does not waiver or engage with fearful thinking. Discernment uses the heart to sense what is aligned with one’s higher good and what is not. There is no judgment. If something does not resonate, it simply does not resonate. It sets you free from the stickiness of judgment, where you Other something or someone else because you reject something of it that challenges you.
Discernment isn’t interested in the ego’s games. It is much more interested in Spirit’s perspective. While discernment and judgment could lead to the same basic action for an individual (for example, not speaking with someone who continuously belittles you), the energetic background to this decision is extremely different.
When you discern not to speak to someone who treats you poorly, it is a decision aligned with your soul. You are in a position of acceptance, of accepting the situation and the person the way it is and the way they are. You see clearly that this person treats you unfairly, and, aware of the effect this has on you. There is a natural process of recognizing that it is not in your Highest Good to engage. It is not interested in fighting or changing the situation. It is only interested in the most loving choice; the choice that is most aligned with the soul’s higher perspective. You do not make this decision because the other person is bad or wrong; you make this decision because you are choosing peace, love, and a respect for your self-worth and dignity.
When judgment is the primary influence in your choice not to speak to this person, this introduces a host of drama into the affair. The body is reactive and charged. It is often angry and interested in being right or being the victim because the ego is activated. And so, stories are invented that elaborate on why the other individual is bad, why they are always like that, the myriad of ways in which they have historically failed you, and why it is fundamentally unfair. Your mind begins to dictate the situation. It wants you to see that person as bad or wrong, and it wants you to feel a rejection of that behavior.
There is no loving acceptance in that engagement. It is based on fear because you are not feeling safe. You are feeling like another is attacking you, and the ego uses the protective mechanism of judgment as a weak way to create the illusion of safety. If you can construct narratives and labels that produce rights and wrongs, suddenly, the ego may (temporarily) feel more secure, less under threat by the others’ words and actions.
However, when you judge another for their actions, you hurt yourself. We all have parts of ourselves that call out for greater love and acceptance, and our rejection and judgment of another as bad, wrong, stupid, or any other quality only reflects back to us our own sense of hurt, rejection, failure, or inability to meet our standards of worthiness. It tells the inner child inside of us that there are right and wrong ways to be that can result in him or her being rejected by you, because he or she just saw you do this to someone else. This produces more fear, and a greater fear within you of that same experience. And so, judgment creates a feedback loop like so many emotions: when you judge another, you judge yourself, and you go forward likely taking greater steps in your own life to protect yourself from being judged: trying to be perfect, hiding your authentic self, lying, doing things that do not truly resonate with you.
This is one of the traps of judgment. And why we called it a sticky experience, because when you judge someone else, the judgment sticks right to you, too.
Discernment, on the other hand, reflects an inner freedom. It emerges from a desire to be free from that which would limit or restrict you. It is the inner guidance that would draw you away from circumstances that would not serve your highest good. This may very well be because the circumstances include an individual there who is not interested in serving your highest good. Yet the decision is not made out of fearful self-preservation but a commitment to one’s desire to remain in alignment with their most joyful self.
And so, discernment goes much further in keeping you safe, but it involves healing yourself from the fears that prevent you from seeing clearly. That is, if you are not willing or able to see a situation clearly, you will struggle to use your discernment. Many things can cause you to compromise your ability to see things clearly. For instance, your desire to please others may obfuscate your ability to access your intuition to the point that acting contrary to this – and making someone else uncomfortable – triggers too much fear in your body. Fear can create confusion, and you may struggle to see the truth. Great anger in your body can also block clear vision; the discomfort it creates will quickly prompt your mind to create stories about the other person’s blamefulness. This will fuel judgment like a fire and make difficult your ability to discern the truth.
Thus, to discern what is truly in your Highest Good, you must consciously come to a point of neutrality. As judgment emerges from fear and not from love, you must clear yourself of fear and set the intention to see the situation clearly. From this state, an intention to discern what is in your highest good will allow you to move throughout the world in a state of flow and freedom.
Discernment is interested in your growth. It will ask you to expand and adopt the perspective of Spirit: that there is no ‘bad’ or ‘good’ – that everything simply ‘is’. It asks you to accept that even challenging situations that ask you to overcome great fear inside of you are your teachers – are opportunities that have your greatest interests at heart. Discernment will ask bravery from you, too. Just as it can lead you away from painful relationships which do not serve you, it can lead you to make decisions that challenge your ego’s sense of self and safety. In overcoming these fearful patterns, discerning from a place of love and freedom from fear will bring you great wisdom.
We ask you to practice this. Try to understand in your own life where you are judging yourself or others, and honestly look within to find the fear in your own heart. Find the fearful voice of your mind creating stories to protect you from your pain. If someone has hurt you, it is normal that you would feel sadness. If you judge yourself for this, ask yourself why. Do you feel unsafe experiencing certain feelings? Why? Judgment can be a great teacher. You must not deny your own feelings of judgment against others or yourself, even as we encourage against its use as a way of being and going through life. Judgment will show us where we are afraid most to set ourselves free. And its gift is that when we see it and heal it, it shows us where we most need to grow.
Allow judgment to teach you about where your mind wants to keep you playing small, in the boxes it creates to organize life. Let it show you the way these boxes keep you boxed in, too. Let it be the gateway for greater self-exploration and self-knowing, and let it help set you free so that you may take different action in the future.