Judging Discerment

I remember being at work one day and hearing there were new people being hired and sitting there working as they came to introduce the new hires. I remember looking up for a split second when they made it to my desk and seeing a tall, white woman with long hair and a deep country accent. I instantly thought…she didn’t like black people.  I decided at that moment that I wasn’t going to deal with that particular person. Well somehow within months me and that same lady, were and still are the closest of friends and during the time I held that position she and I were practically inseparable. We found that we had similar struggles and opinions. Of course she loved frog giggin where I prefer a pedicure but otherwise we were a lot alike.  Later she told me when she met me she thought I was a real butthole and planned to not talk to me unless she absolutely had to and I told her what I thought about her. When she heard that I thought she was racist she had to laugh because she actually was quite the opposite. Still to this day we are the best of friends. I told this story because I know that I am not the only one that does that.  How do we tell the different between judging someone and discernment?
I truly believe that God gives us discernment so that we do steer clear of certain things and people. However, more times than not we are judging someone by what we see not by what God is telling us. What’s even more bizarre is we are MORE LIKELY to ignore that tiny voice that is warning us. I can’t count how many times I have known better or have known someone was not good for me, not by their looks because most times what’s not good for you or to you looks wonderful, but held on to it or them for dear life. Meanwhile, rejecting what is sensible for nonsense. We are so funny that way. Some of the best people in my life are people initially I had judged to be one way and come to find out they were quite the opposite. That sure explains why God tells us not to judge, looking at me by myself would be a mess for sure and we have no way to look into someone’s heart as God does. The Holy Spirit, however, does warn us when we should not latch on to someone or something. We should work more on judging less and discerning more.