Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be mesaured to you again.
Matthew 7:1 kjv
Matt7:12
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Matt7:24
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.
Thats so true, I even have caught myself with jugment in my heart against someone and God showed me that I am guilty of the same thing my heart juges them of.. So he has showed me that I must not juge someone because we do not know the hearts of men only God does
For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person."
� 1 Corinthians 5:12-13
Judge not, lest you be judged. . . . We have all heard it. It is in the Bible, in Matthew 7:1, where Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged."
But let's understand these words contextually. A better translation of the statement would be, "Condemn not, that you be not condemned." In other words, God is the final judge. He decides who gets into heaven and who does not. Greg Laurie doesn't decide that. You don't decide that. No one else decides that. We are not to condemn, meaning to pass final judgment.
But we are to judge, in the sense of making evaluations�even corrections when necessary�regarding fellow believers. Paul addresses this very subject in 1 Corinthians 5:
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. . . . For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? (verses 10, 12)
Paul was saying that it is our job to judge those inside the church. But a lot of believers ignore this. They say, "Oh, no. Just be loving." But I would say that they don't really know what love is. Love cares enough to confront.
We are so into loving everyone, not even understanding what the word means, that we have lost our sense of discernment in standing up for what is right. We should do it with compassion, concern, and humility. Yet we should make the stand.
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
� 1 Corinthians 6:2
Is there a place for judging? Are we to judge one another, and if so, on what basis? Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you" (Matthew 7:1�2). The Greek word Jesus used for "judge" means, "to separate, choose, select, or determine." In context, we see that Jesus is dealing primarily with motives. You cannot judge my motives, nor can I judge yours. We may have an evaluation of someone, but we can't see his or her heart.
The better translation of this statement would be, "Condemn not, that you be not condemned." I am to make judgments and evaluations, but I am not to condemn. Some people are hypercritical. They are just looking for people to slip up. They are quick to jump to conclusions. As one of my favorite preachers, the late J. Vernon McGee, said, "The only exercise some Christians get is jumping to conclusions and running down others."
Sometimes we are quick to jump to conclusions and quick to believe the worst instead of the best about someone. Jesus is saying we should not do that. So if someone says to you, "Well, doesn't the Bible say, 'Judge not, that you be not judged'?" your response should be, "Yes, but I don't think you understand the meaning of that statement." The reality is that Christians are to make judgments. A judgment is an evaluation, and we make them every day.
We are not in a position to see a person's heart, and we are not in a position to bring final judgment on someone. Our objective is to never to condemn and put down; it is to help and restore.
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
� 1 Peter 4:17
Sometimes I think Christians believe they are never to make any evaluations of others, that they are to just be loving toward everyone. While it is true that we should be loving, that also means speaking the truth. In fact, the Bible tells us to speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15). So if I am having lunch with a friend who has spinach in his teeth, then as a friend, I will tell him that. A friend tells a friend the truth, even if it is uncomfortable or awkward.
Then there are bigger matters, like sin. Maybe you see some compromise, some weakness in your friend's life. So you say, "I love you, and because of that, I feel that I need to warn you." Your friend might get upset, because people don't like to be criticized. And the kneejerk response we often hear is, "Don't judge me! Who are you to judge me? Doesn't the Bible say, 'Judge not, that you be not judged'?"
Yet the Bible tells us that judgment begins with the house of God (see 1 Peter 4:17). It even tells us, "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" (1 Corinthians 6:2). When we make an evaluation of a person's life, we are, in effect, judging them�and there is nothing wrong with that. What we are to avoid, however, is condemnation. When Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), a better translation would be, "Condemn not, that you be not condemned."
Yes, we should make judgments. Yes, we should make evaluations. But we are not in the position to condemn. We are not the judge, jury, and executioner.
