What virtue can I practice to battle the sin of judgment?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

To overcome the sin of judging and condemning others, the primary virtue you must cultivate is humility—specifically through the ascetical practice of self-accusation (seeing and mourning your own sins)—coupled with mercy and active love.

In the spiritual life, every passion is uprooted by establishing the opposing virtue. Judgment stems directly from pride, self-righteousness, and blindness to one’s own fallen state. The Church Fathers provide clear, practical spiritual remedies to crush this vice:

1. The Virtue of Humility via Self-Accusation

The most potent weapon against the habit of passing sentence on others is keeping the sight of your own spiritual wounds constantly before your eyes.

As St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain teaches, a sure method to completely free yourself from critical and judgmental thoughts is:

• Never letting go of the memory of your own wickedness and faults. Keep a constant awareness of your own unworthiness and hidden passions before God.
• When a person sincerely recognizes that their own spiritual diseases require urgent, life-and-death attention, they realize they have no free time left to inspect, manage, or condemn the affairs of others.

This echoes the famous wisdom of the Desert Father, St. Moses the Black. When called to judge a brother who had committed a fault, St. Moses filled a basket that had a hole in it with sand and carried it on his back. When asked what he was doing, he replied: "My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I have come to judge the errors of another."

When you are tempted to judge:

• Immediately turn the spotlight inward: "I commit worse sins than this, seen or unseen."
• Pray the words of the Agpeya: "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

2. Holy Fear of God: Relinquishing God's Throne

A person who judges usurps the judgment seat of the Almighty. The Holy Fathers warn that the moment you assume the authority to pass sentence on another human being, you make yourself worthy of immediate condemnation—not before weak men, but before the living God, the only righteous Judge.

• Remember Christ's warning: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged" (Matthew 7:1–2).
• Practice the interior discipline of saying: "I am not the judge. God alone knows his heart, his struggles, and his repentance."

3. The Virtue of Mercy and Covering Sins (Active Charity)

Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). The natural fruit of humility is mercy toward the neighbor.

• Find Excuses for the Person: If you see someone stumble, imitate the saints by assuming the best motive possible or acknowledging the weakness of human nature under demonic temptation: "Perhaps he acted in ignorance," or "The enemy tempted him severely; had I been in his place, I would have fallen deeper."
• Pray Secretly for Them: The moment a critical thought arises about a brother or sister, convert that judgment into a secret prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on him, and by his holy prayers, have mercy on me, a sinner." The devil hates prayer; if he sees that tempting you to judge a brother causes you to pray for that brother, he will quickly withdraw the temptation.

Practical Rule of Life

Do not try to master every virtue all at once. Direct your focus toward humility of heart. Whenever the mind begins to criticize someone's speech, appearance, work, or morality, cut the thought off immediately at its inception, look down at your own soul, and place yourself beneath all men before God.