Don't Judge!
by Daniel Carandang
Have you ever made a comment about a friend and in
return, that friend said:
“Ay grabe, na-judge nanaman ako.”
Have you ever felt as if you were judged by your friends
or by other people?
Let’s face it: even though we don’t plan on taking law or
see ourselves in court, we are all JUDGErs (pardon the pun). One way or another, we end up making
judgements on other people based on their personalities (e.g. there’s a very
friendly girl in class and you think: “Hmmm...maybe she just needs something
from us.”), what they wear (e.g. guy classmate wears not-so-white polo shirt
and you say: “Maybe he wears the same thing every day.”), their social status
and their looks.
The tendency to judge other people is notoriously present in each
and every one of us. And similar to pride, it is equally destructive to us and
the people around us. How many of you here would like to be around people
who will lovingly tell you what you need to hear, BUT are neither condemning
nor critical. That's what God desires for us. That's His will for His
family.
DO NOT JUDGE.
Why shouldn’t we?
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For
in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you
use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in
your brother’s eye and pay no attention
to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the
speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is
a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own
eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:1-5
I. IT IS GOD’S COMMAND
“Do not judge, or you too will be
judged…”
In a court room setting, the judge is the one who settles the final
call. Based on his/her observation, the judge gives the decision on the
suspect’s fate: innocent or guilty?
A little background on the verse above:
On His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was talking about how
people who belonged to the kingdom of God, to His family (those who call Him
'Lord') should live--how they should act, speak, and what their
perspectives and principles should be. Being a judgmental person was not
included in the list. The principles taught by Jesus were in contrast with the
lifestyles of the Pharisees, men who were considered to be holy and the ones
thought to be fully in synced with God.
They memorized the first five books of the Bible, were very rigid and
practically totally legalistic about a lot of matters during their time. To
them, they were the only ones who had a right view of life and everyone else
was just…wrong.
They became so self-righteous that they looked down on everyone else.
They condemned and judged their fellow Jews, causing them to be the cause of
hate and low self-esteem.
Self-check: are we becoming like the Pharisees?
Many times, we emphasize on the more obvious sins and ignore, or
even spurn "acceptable" sins like judging others. We openly condemn
cheating, gluttony…being cute (okay, maybe not).
If you are a part of God’s family, you should not have a judging
heart.
Or else, you will also judged.
"For in
the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure
you use, it will be measured to you."
Matthew
7:2
If you mistreat people, you can
expect that mistreatment will come running your way.
You ask: What about “Stop judging by mere appearances,
but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24)?
The verse is talking about discerning,
not condemning. We are
called to discern, but not condemn. We can rebuke and help others without
condemning them. We must differentiate between good and evil, we must evaluate.
In Matthew, Jesus was pointing out the condemning attitude of the
Pharisees. These so-called holy men were judging others because of
their personalities, appearances, weaknesses and the fact that the other Jews
did not go along with them.
We must discern, when we find sin, we must confront lovingly and
tell our brother what they need to hear. But we should NOT have the ugly, self-righteous, critical spirit of the
Pharisees.
II. Don’t focus on yourself; focus on other people
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say
to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a
plank in your own eye?"
Matthew 7:3-4
Verse 3 is a hyperbolic argument, exaggerated argument--Jesus was trying to
make a point: when we judge, we don't
realize but WE have a bigger reason to be condemned than the person we are
condemning.
A person with a judgmental attitude has a
wrong perspective himself.
“You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Matthew
7:5
A judgmental person is a
HYPOCRITE in the eyes of God. It’s as if they are perfect people and they have
a right to condemn others. But the truth is we have no right to judge others
because we too are imperfect people like them.
Instead of judging others,
judge yourself. Instead of thinking "Why did he do that?", ask
"Why am I doing this?"--so that you will not be a hypocrite.
III. Be
careful in correcting other people
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw
your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet,
and turn and tear you to pieces.”
Matthew 7:6
Trample- treating precious truths unjustly. If someone is really
doing something wrong, do not be hasty in correcting others, because the
experience will be like throwing your pearls to pigs.
It hurts.
So, what do you do?
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him
a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though
you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts
to those who ask Him!”
Matthew
7:7-11
PRAY!
Commit everything to the Lord. Things out of your control should be presented to God in prayer and not resolved by ourselves. Rely on His goodness and His ability to touch people's hearts. In the meantime, let's not judge if we don't want to be judged too.
Written by Ashley Petallano (c) 2013
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