Jesus's Words on Judging
- Shawna Jones
- Feb 26, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 3, 2023
“'Judge not, that you be not judged. ( 2 ) For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ( 3 ) Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ( 4 ) Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when there is the log in your own eye? ( 5 ) You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.'"
In Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus commands us to not judge others. In saying this, He explains how it is wrong for us to focus on what others may be doing wrong before we examine ourselves to make sure we are doing what's right in His eyes. It is only by first examining ourselves and removing the present sin in our own lives that we will be able to help our brothers and sisters to do better. Wrongly judging others can cause us to fall into feelings of pride and self-righteousness as we think of ourselves as doing better than those around us. It can also lead us to ignore the sin we have in our lives as we see our sin as small in comparison to that of others. David Guzik explains that examples of times when we break Jesus's command to not judge others include when (1) we think the worse of others, (2) speak to others only of their faults, (3) judge someone's entire life by their worst moments, (4) judge what we think the hidden motives of others are, and finally (5) when we judge others without being mindful that we ourselves will soon be judged. Although Jesus doesn't fully prohibit the judgment of others ( since He says that we can help others only after removing any "planks" in our own eyes), we need to be careful to keep judgment completely fair. We can do this by judging others through the lens of Scripture with humility and love and not by our own clouded judgment.
God, thank You for all of Jesus's teachings. Please help us with obeying Jesus's command to not judge others. Help us to examine ourselves and open our eyes to any unrepentant sin in our lives. Rid us of pride and self-righteousness, please. Thank You for all that You do for us.
In Jesus' Name, I pray, amen.
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