Genesis 38:24 · World English Bible
About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.” Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
The mind rushes to condemn another for the very thing it has done and forgotten. A report arrives, and without a question, without a pause, sentence is passed and the fire is called for.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
The mind rushes to condemn another for the very thing it has done and forgotten. A report arrives, and without a question, without a pause, sentence is passed and the fire is called for. This is guilt at its swiftest, so eager to find the fault outside that it will burn a brother to keep from looking within. The one who cries for judgment is himself the unnamed cause, though he does not yet know it.
Such haste is always the mark of hidden guilt. A mind that condemns quickly is a mind afraid of what it would see if it slowed down, and the harsher the verdict, the deeper the fear it is fleeing.
Judah: the mind that condemns swiftly to keep from seeing its own hand in the very fault it burns another for Tamar: the brother accused and sentenced, made to carry a guilt that belongs to the accuser
Christian Psychology lens
What is the hurry when you are sure someone is guilty?
The one who is quick to name the fault in others has not yet looked long at himself. Knowing your own heart is harder work than judging a stranger, and far more useful.
The finger pointing at the mistake is still attached to your own hand. Follow it back before you raise your voice.
Do not judge another until you have stood where they stand. Most verdicts are delivered from a comfortable distance.
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Christian Psychology