Judgment
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:2
From time to time I hear folks quote Matthew 7:1. That scripture reads, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” These folks use this scripture to state that we should never judge anyone… but is that really the case? For following that scripture is the above scripture Matthew 7:2.
From my understanding, what is meant here is that we should not be quick to pick on people in a critical and hard attitude. Else people will turn around and do the same towards us.
That’s far different from considering the attitudes and actions of those around us. For we must ‘judge’ a persons character to figure out if that person is some one we want to be influenced by or that we can trust.
Most of us do this on an everyday basis anyway. We judge or consider that person who is driving in front of us. If a person is swerving all over the road or switching lanes violently then it would be good judgment to stay clear of that person—less a fender-bender occur.
Judging or considering the actions of someone else is a logical process but it’s also a process of the heart. For if our heart is mean, ill-tempered, and overly critical then our consideration of others will be the same. No one likes a critical attitude… they in turn will be critical…
Being a Christian means a change of heart… a change of attitude. Before we can righteously judge or consider the actions of others we must first judge our own hearts… and once this is done we will consider others through the lens of mercy, compassion, and with righteous judgment.
From time to time I hear folks quote Matthew 7:1. That scripture reads, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” These folks use this scripture to state that we should never judge anyone… but is that really the case? For following that scripture is the above scripture Matthew 7:2.
From my understanding, what is meant here is that we should not be quick to pick on people in a critical and hard attitude. Else people will turn around and do the same towards us.
That’s far different from considering the attitudes and actions of those around us. For we must ‘judge’ a persons character to figure out if that person is some one we want to be influenced by or that we can trust.
Most of us do this on an everyday basis anyway. We judge or consider that person who is driving in front of us. If a person is swerving all over the road or switching lanes violently then it would be good judgment to stay clear of that person—less a fender-bender occur.
Judging or considering the actions of someone else is a logical process but it’s also a process of the heart. For if our heart is mean, ill-tempered, and overly critical then our consideration of others will be the same. No one likes a critical attitude… they in turn will be critical…
Being a Christian means a change of heart… a change of attitude. Before we can righteously judge or consider the actions of others we must first judge our own hearts… and once this is done we will consider others through the lens of mercy, compassion, and with righteous judgment.
posted by Michael Byrd at 9:58 AM
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