On Refusal to Judge Our Neighbor - St. Dorotheos of Gaza

This is bitter medicine that heals deep, often unseen, wounds. St. Dorotheos of Gaza (+565), disciple of Sts. Barsanuphius and John, plainly teaches us the necessity to cease from judging our neighbor, for we may only know the actions, but not the inner heart. He uses many examples, including the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, by saying, “Because of this he was not condemned, as I said, not even because he said, 'I am not like other men', but [he was condemned] because he said, 'I am not like this tax-collector'. It was then that he made a judgment. He condemned a person and the dispositions of his soul-to put it shortly, his whole life. Therefore, the tax-collector rather than the Pharisee went away justified. Nothing is more serious, nothing more difficult to deal with, as I say repeatedly, than judging and despising our neighbor.”
The text can be found here: orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/doroth...
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[@brotherandrew3393]

That was very good! My greatest temptation is to judge people. Please pray for me that I stop doing this.

[@marksafady1059]

I have a problem with this too. Lord have mercy on my wretched soul.

[@loveisintheair3487]

Me too😢

[@WolvesBaseballNine]

Don't we all. I think there's a reason there's so much written about this and is the main theme of Matthew 7. This is an easy temptation to fall into.

[@drakeclifton5625]

I bet I've judged worse then all of you 😞

[@vasilymartin4051]

I really liked this talk. The love and gentleness of the saint flowed through so clearly. Thank you, brother

[@saso3545]

St Dorotheos please pray to God for us and help us. ☦️🙏🏼

[@konmakchristian6801]

After this I am very sure one of the things I'm the worst at controlling is judging others and I didn't even realize😢

[@radvlad1431]

This is very helpful. I didn't realize I do this until I heard him describing me. Lord help me to repent

[@craigculwell9177]

☦️❤️‍🩹 Lord, have mercy. Forgive me, the sinner….. 🌙🌴🌐🎣🔔⚓️🌊🕊

[@florinapleter7804]

LORD JESUS CHRIST 💓 Son of God 🕊️ have mercy on me and upon Thy world 🙏🏼

[@eliaswakileh4448]

Wonderful!!! Thank you for all the hard work you invest for us! May god reward you for your kindness!

[@OrthodoxWisdom]

Thank you so much. That’s very kind of you! I benefit so much from these words and the process of producing the recordings. And seeing others benefit too is what it’s really about. So I have ample motivation to continue 🙂

[@vanessac.7040]

@@OrthodoxWisdom I agree 💯 with @Elias Wakileh. Truly just came across this channel when my husband sent me the one on Holy Zeal. Such great material from the links you provide, the blog post of St. Cuthbert and the PDF and all the information within your other videos. Glory to God for this work and may he continue to strengthen you all for His Glory. Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever! ☦️🙏🏼

[@OrthodoxWisdom]

Very glad you found the PDF of The Life of St. Cuthbert. I would love to see it printed as a book someday. Lord willing, but still wanted to share with everyone the joy I’ve found in that blessed Saint of England. Thank you for prayers and encouragement!

[@lokdog257]

My stumbling block with this is the wickedness of our age. Should I stay at home, pray, and concern myself with my sins, as they are, while my neighbor murders children? Should I focus more on my own temper in the comment sections, and ignore the mutilation and sexualization of children? Is it truly Christian to allow evil to take place, because of the "beam" in my eye is greater than the "mote" in my neighbor's eye? Are we supposed to not judge and turn a blind eye to sin, while women are raped, people are murdered, and children are enslaved; because we must focus on OUR personal sin, and NOT the sin of others.

[@micoveliki8729]

Same brother I don't know its like it is imposible for me not to judge how do I look at some of the evil and injustice dine and say poor soul you dont know better instead of getting so mad.. I pray God will send us the answer I truly want to change

[@KnoxEmDown]

If I'm correctly understanding what St. Dorotheos said, we can and should call out all those things as bad and even do all in our power to prevent them as possible; As far as I understand, what we cannot do is say that a person is just their sin and not themselves, or that they are condemned because of their sin, or that they should be hated because of their sins. All these latter things are judgements reserved to God alone, yet knowing this does not prevent us from declaring it as error and working to stop it within and without ourselves. Proper way: "That mother abused her child, we must stop her from doing that and repent of our own wrath, lest we do the same to our children." Improper way: "That mother is a child abuser, lock her up and throw away the key, she deserves it!" Such a subtle difference. If I misunderstood anything, please forgive me.

[@gfepsh]

Yes I feel a similar way and I believe the commenter above is correct with the approach we should take. However I believe an important message in Christianity is that the state of our soul supersedes the state of our body. That however terrible it is for a mother to abuse her child the true torture is spiritual not physical. What we do about these problems should take that into consideration.

[@dummynames9238]

I found this very helpful; thank you. May God bless you for this work of mercy. Necessary spiritual food, the guidance & discernment of the Fathers, for when we can listen but not read--robotic recordings do not speak to the soul.

[@OrthodoxWisdom]

Amen. I can’t stand the robot readings. By God’s grace I pray that my voice is a means of transmitting the Holy Spirit to all who hear. Glory to God.

[@kaylakincannon3458]

I have certainly been guilty of judging. St Dorotheos pray for me! ☦️

[@MalikaIC]

Thank you for this powerful reminder! My you be blessed to the core of your being by our Lord Jesus Christ...

[@lucycastro9428]

These words are life! My wholehearted thanks. 🙏💖

[@Meowwolfwarrior]

The first two minutes of this and im like ❤😮❤ forgive me God 🙏😭 help me please please please please please amen in your son Jesus name help me!!!!!!!

[@woldemariamwoldeamanuel221069]

May God bless you - from Ethiopian orthodox

[@hazelskilos3993]

Thank you for reading these. I like to listen while I’m working

[@Taran532]

Hating the sin and not the sinner is truly difficult.

[@johnnyd2383]

Pray to God to grant you such discernment... I do that every single day and not giving up the hope that my prayers will be heard.

[@johnwebster3072]

Thank you for these readings ! So helpful inspiring & moving .

[@stellajacovides9676]

Such blessed wisdom . Lord help me 🙏🙏

[@radvlad1431]

I love the compass circle depiction of love of God coinciding with Love of neighbor. Such a powerful image

[@davidserafim5368]

Thank you for sharing the saints with us.

[@eliasandrinopoulos8746]

Thank you. ☦️🙏🏻😊👍🏻

[@mhreteabetesfaye8771]

God bless you and your family ,thank you

[@dannyk7226]

Much thanks for providing this valuable sermon. For with these fathers is the wisdom of God.

[@jennyamiantitis4906]

Thank you profoundly for the translation of this homily. May Our Lord grant us to be enlightened through his wisdom and teachings.

[@Demetrios-sq1yx]

Glory to God

[@jeromestafford3089]

Thank you for this labor of love. I listened to this on the way to work. Provides real encouragement. May God bless you.

[@frjwoj]

Thank you for all of your postings. May God bless your efforts! Glory to God for all things! ☦️ With love in Christ, + Fr. Jacob

[@kathleankeesler1639]

Thank you.

[@abdulemalik8848]

God bless

[@ghideysenait3944]

Glory be to God. I love this. Deep, awakening, enlightening, and very beneficial. Thank you so much. God bless your service 🙏🏽

[@xenu12]

Thank you for this post.

[@rosehavenfarm2969]

wonderful. Thank you so much.

[@jamesgardner9583]

YES! 🙏BROTHER JAMES

[@ducky1016]

This was amazing

[@WesleyJean00]

Thank you for creating this content. It is a blessing to the hearers.

[@dimitri5249]

Wow really nice content! Please continue to post more videos like this :)

[@tallmikbcroft6937]

This is very practical advice. A way to put the commandments of G-d into action in my life. Thank you for sharing this

[@theyesbeforeno9036]

Appreciate your effort, keep on going with the good work.

[@benjaminberg7239]

This was a true eye opener for me

[@abdulemalik8848]

Amen

[@saram3219]

God blessed you and give you more grace. Thank you for the spiritual food what I needed to hear. Please keep up 🙏 may God bless you and reward you more grace 🙏

[@siddislikesgoogle]

We may not have the wisdom of God or be able to judge as He judges. But a fornicator, is a fornicator. Murder is Murder. Lying, is Lying, pedophilia is pedophilia. To behave as if we could not discern good from evil, is nonsense. I think this is more about not being hypocritical and being humble about our ability to judge truly and mete out accurate punishment/reward

[@nath7874]

i would really appreciate if you publish whole book of Fr Dorotheos, please. its not available on the internet

[@OrthodoxWisdom]

I don’t record entire books unless they are free online, not being sold for profit, and/or not under copyright.

[@francescalmichela6210]

❤❤❤❤🙏✝️💐💐💐

[@Strider1Wilco]

I'm so guilty of this

[@seth956]

Dont judge people; judge actions. People are too complicated for you to judge. To judge people is heretical because in action you are saying "I am God". To discern between right and wrong is nessesary to determine false prophets, create just laws, and to help people in need. To watch someone fall into a pit without warning them is not love. To warn them from the bottom is folly, first pull yourself out so they can hear your voice. Proper reflection on your faults is nessesary everytime you correct others. You should not shy from correction.

[@rancon265]

Best to find a property where neighbors are about 1/4 mile away. Put a steel gate on your driveway.

[@brotherandrew3393]

That is not what divine love demands.

[@lyricalmike7162]

@@brotherandrew3393 since when does divine love command cramped living?

[@brotherandrew3393]

@@lyricalmike7162 It is not about "cramped living". It is about isolation because of a hostile attitude.

[@gigilagous8020]

lol Our neighbors are so loud On drugs no jobs their kids are not in school They have terrorized our calm street So yah they keep us working people up all night with very loud loud music no rest So God is angry at us here being calm ??? We have prayed for a year on this street for the squatters in that rental to be removed No help from God ?

[@BMC867]

False magnanimity is not the way to freedom. Christ is not saying not to discern between good and evil, he is saying the measure you use will be used for you too. This is not a prescription not to shine a light or judge righteously, it is a call to conform to Christ and bring yourself under his measure. The plank in the eye is not discerning about people and circumstances, the plank is your own sin. It's a call to repentance. This video is a desperate attempt to build plausible deniability for your own sin and idolatry, which characterizes all human life, and the idolatry of fallen priesthood, who have abandoned sound teaching to follow the lusts and idolatry of their fathers and myths. "Do not shine a light and tell the truth, because a call to repentance and feeling convicted may make someone uncomfortable" is a worldly message that comes from hell, the kingdom we are born into. Thousands of years of idolatry does not validate idolatry, it will always be bad for you, including if Peter himself did it, and those who came immediately after him. Maybe consider taking Peter and Mary as they are presented to you by God and not how you want to reinvent them. Let yourself be convicted of sin and repent instead of dedicating your life to twisting things into easier teachings that make you comfortable with idolatry and false magnanimity, making a false appeal to an authority that is not Christ, exactly like the Pharisees did, who were the sons of Abraham and were the ones to inherit God's kingdom by his own promise, but refused him by their idolatry and obsessive appeal to tradition. You're only cheating yourself. God is accommodating us for a chance to repent. The sons of Abraham thought the same way, and over and over God shows them how they are wrong until Christ came himself to rebuke them over their obsession and they killed him. What did Christ say to the people at Nazareth? Why did he reference those stories? What was their reaction? It's always the same thing with you. Thousands of years later and here you are, the gospel available to you your entire life, and you're doing the same exact thing as always. You have never died and you love your life more than anything. Repent.

[@francescalmichela6210]

May God forgive Our sins🙏✝️❤️