The Bible verse for today is: Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Do not judge
This is one of Satan’s favorite Scriptures to twist. Many people not only unbelievers, but many professing Christians love to say the famous line do not judge or thou shall not judge, but sadly they don’t know what it means. If you preach anything on sin or confront someone’s rebellion a false convert will get upset and say stop judging and wrongly use Matthew 7:1. Many people fail to read it in context to find out what it is talking about.
In context
Matthew 7:2-5 because the way that you judge others will be the way that you will be judged, and you will be evaluated by the standard with which you evaluate others. “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
What it really meant
If you read only Matthew 7:1 then you would think Jesus is telling us that judging is wrong, but when you read all the way to verse 5 you see that Jesus is talking about hypocritical judging. How can you judge someone or point out someone else’s sin when you’re sinning even worse than them? You’re a hypocrite if you do that.
What it doesn’t mean
This does not mean that you are to have a critical spirit. We are not to search up and down for something wrong with someone. We are not to be harsh and critical after every little thing.
The truth
The only God can judge statement is false. There will be judging throughout our lives. In school, getting your driver’s license, at work, etc. It’s only a problem when it comes to religion.
People who judged against sin in the Bible
Jesus- Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
John the Baptist- Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath?
Stephen- Acts 7:51-55 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
Jonah- 1:1-2Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.
Reminder
John 7:24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
We must not be afraid. We must judge with love to bring people to the truth. One of the reasons for the many false Christians in Christianity is because we stopped correcting sin and because we have no love we let people live in rebellion and keep them on the road that leads to hell.
