What you have seen with your eyes do not bring hastily to court, for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame? (Proverbs 25:7-8)

I trust my eyes and my intuition far too much.  I'm woefully quick to judge a situation or a person's character based on circumstantial evidence.  I see the look on a person's face, for instance, and I assume that I understand what it means -- when in fact I'm often mistaken.  Because the trick is that just because someone's eyebrows furrow when he's taking in new information, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person is angry.  Just because a person trips on his way out of a bar, it doesn't mean that he's an alcoholic.  In these types of situations, our eyes and our intuition can easily mislead us.  And the problem is further compounded when we bring our circumstantial snap-judgments into the court of public opinion.  "We whisper to each other, "Did you hear about such-and-such?"  We might share our secrets with a disclaimer that we don't know exactly what happened, but we typically include our prejudice in the framing of the evidence -- ultimately trying and convicting the "guilty" person before he ever has a chance to defend himself.

Experience and the Proverbs have taught me that it's far better to start off believing the best about others.  And even when the evidence might seem to suggest otherwise, we do well to keep our mouths shut and avoid the temptation towards gossip.  Eventually, there might come a time to directly (though privately) confront the person who seems to be in the wrong.  At that point, it's good to provide the opportunity for the other person to share his or her side of the story (i.e. Proverbs 18:17 - The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him"), and then -- and only then, as necessary -- rebuke the person face-to-face (i.e. Proverbs 9:9 - "Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning").  Throughout this whole process, however, we do well to maintain discretion and avoid hasty judgments and trial by the court of public opinion.

If we misjudge, we create a lot of unneccessary shame -- for all the parties involved.  But if we handle things wisely, we build relationships and we build each other up.