Scripture reference: Matthew 7:1-6 1
1)Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Judging Others
The world is a very judgmental place. Everywhere you look you see judgments passed by food critics and product reviews. The world isn’t getting any better because Christians are conforming to it, and we are all guilty of judging others at some point.
In Jesus’s time very few of the religious leaders agreed with Him. Many of them were hypocritical and judgmental not only of Jesus but of other people as well. They wanted to lift themselves up above everyone else. Jesus reminds us not to tear down another to lift ourselves up.
We need to keep our eye on evil so we can expose it. There are ways to talk about evil without being judgmental about it. If evil is not exposed, it continues to go on and on. God’s laws tell us what is right and wrong. People who break those laws need to be held accountable. Verse 1 does not mean we should let lawbreakers go unpunished.
In verses 3 – 5 Jesus warns we need to practice deep self-reflection by asking ourselves why we are judging others when we may be guilty of the same thing. We should always check our motives before passing any kind of judgment on others.
In verse 6 Jesus is addressing the Jews who wanted to keep Gentiles out of the Temple. Many Jews thought the Gentiles were defiling the Temple just like having swine in the Temple would do. Jesus made it clear that was wrong because the Gentiles are God’s children too. Everyone who truly wants to worship should be welcome in the Lord’s house.
In conclusion, we should not turn a blind eye to evil but should be willing to let God work through us to resolve issues. Look into God’s Word, search your heart, and ask God what the right thing to do is. He will show you the right steps to take, if you’ll just ask Him.