Exercising caution is using one's judgement to make conscious decisions. It helps to avoid making careless mistakes.
I think the phrase, "Judge not, lest ye be judged" refers to making character judgments about a person's choices when the opportunity to witness 'the judged' in their daily behaviors and habits is absent. People only show what they are comfortable letting others see. Who knows what emotions lay beneath the surface?
Forgiveness. It is often said that only the strong can forgive. I think forgiveness is concerned with letting go of perceived wrong doings. As long as we hold on to the emotions connected to the pain we cannot truly move forward. If unresolved, It begins to grow in unintended directions. Directions that can lead down dark paths of corruption and self destruction. Forgiveness is the love that heals these wounds. It's the antidote to hurt, hate, and suffering. It takes practice to develop and maintain this ability.
Love is acceptance and forgiveness.
There is currently legislation being fought over for the basic right of two people to marry. Marriage is currently defined by the legal union of a man and woman. Whether people will get their act together or not remains to be seen; however, the irony that more than half of all hetero-normal marriages fail in America proves that even unions between the current definition of marriage is not something so sacred after all.
Whatever the reason people marry or divorce each other, a lot of self awareness is involved with entering either decision. Young people often experience societal as well as familial pressures to make life long commitments before even discovering themselves (I used to wonder what this meant when I was young, after all... who else would know me better than myself?). Life experience teaches one about themselves and what they value in others as well. For instance, when one is first establishing savings after graduation from college or a promotion in the workforce, they are faced with the option to choose where they can spend their discretionary cash flow. Some choose material expenditures, others elect for experiential adventure, and some choose to save for an even larger goal. After some experience in all three or more categories, people discover where they find the most value in their investments. This becomes the reason that many get up in the morning and go to work. For many people, their profession is not what defines them; rather, one's profession allows them the freedom to do whatever they wish to. So it goes with relationships. Once a person has better self-knowledge they are then capable of making commitments that accurately reflect their investment proclivities. The commitment to spend time with another means putting oneself in a position to join along in the direction both parties wish to venture, be it in lifestyle, establishing a family, a spiritual journey, or all of the above.
People of all walks of life are free to be and love whomever they choose, but this decision comes at a cost. It means sacrificing the right to hold on to hurt, hate, and suffering in order to embrace acceptance and forgiveness.
― Kahlil Gibran, Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran