Proverbs 18:17
“The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.”
How many times have you listened to some harrowing tale of a person done wrong, violated, mistreated, or just plain cheated and felt empathy with them? Then when they told you how they responded, you understood their response and what’s more, you agreed with it? This type of situation is exactly what this verse is referring to. It is all too often that we, as people, “take sides” before we even hear both sides. If we couple Proverbs 18:17 with Proverbs 18:13 {if you answer a matter before you hear it, it is folly and shame to you} then we can be aware that we will always side with the first person who tells us the story but that we can be sure that it is foolish not to listen fully to both sides before we make a judgment. Normally, people will say that they don’t “judge” until they have heard both sides but what they fail to realize is that even if they do not judge with their mouths, they usually always judge in their hearts before hearing both sides. This is the problem because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and once something is inside the heart, it can only come out through the mouth!
Beloved, remember that when you hear someone tell a story, you absolutely must reserve judgment until you have amply heard both sides, for then, and only then can your judgment be righteous.
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