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c) He Who Knows His Lord, Judges Himself, not Others (Matthew 7:1-6)
MATTHEW 7:1-5
1 “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Isaiah 33:1; Mark 4:24; Romans 2:1; 1 Corinthians 4:5)
Jesus has suffered from the hard-heartedness, hypocrisy and pride, which were in His disciples and in the people in general. He ordered them not to judge anybody, but judge themselves first. The Law of Christ reveals our bad and impure intents, their reasons and the decisions resulting from them. Jesus wants to reform the source of our thoughts and to renew our hearts first that thought, speech and act might be reformed altogether.
We should judge first ourselves, and judge our own acts, but we must not judge our brother and sister. The Lord did not give us an authority over others to judge them. We should not sit in the judgment seat, to make our word a law to everybody.
We should never be hasty in judgment, nor pass a judgment upon our brother or sister without clear reason, certainly not if it is only the product of our own jealousy and ill nature. We should not think the worst of people, nor infer such invidious things from their words, through misrepresenting them.
We should not judge unmercifully, uncharitably, nor with a spirit of revenge and a desire to do mischief. We cannot judge a man’s state by a single act, nor of what he is in himself by what he is to us, because in our own cause we are apt to be partial.
We must not judge the hearts of others, nor their intentions, for it is God’s prerogative to try the heart, and we must not step into His position as Judge. We should not be judges of their eternal state, nor call them hypocrites, adulterers, castaways or reprobates; that is going beyond our limit.
If we judge others, we will be judged equally. He who abuses the bench, shall be called to the bar. Those who are the most condemning are commonly the most condemned; everyone will have a stone to throw back at them. He who has his hand and tongue against every man, shall have every man’s hand and tongue against him. No mercy will be shown to the reputation of those that show no mercy to the reputation of others.
We should confess that we judge others hastily and superficially and consider them weak or strong, bad or good, helpful or harmful. We often hate and reject them, saying wrong words about them. Man acts as if he were the eternal Judge. He condemns others and considers himself good and worthy of understanding and admitting others. Christ rejects such thinking sharply and condemns it as disobedience for many reasons:
We do not know the inner background of a man or the inherited factors he received from his forefathers or the effects of his surrounding environment that took part in his formation since childhood. He who judges will be judged with the same measure he uses. Therefore, be cautious not to pass your judgments hastily upon anybody that you may not judge and destroy yourself through your merciless judgments.
This does not prevent us from rebuking others when they practice sins and impurities by reason of their corrupt society. Some friends practice filthiness and adultery using the society they live in as an excuse. To those brothers and sisters we can say, “You should not judge the world and others but judge yourself.”
What is more horrible is those who carelessly match the world. They gamble, revel and commit adultery, and if you asked them about their behavior, they would answer, “It is a social necessity through which I learn to live in agreement with my partner in future, better be sure than sorry.” To those we can say, “Who told you that this partner will keep later on his promise and marry you after he had satisfied his desires, and not move to others, like a bee which moves from one flower to another looking for their nectar.”
God is the most merciful. He loves even the adulterers and the thieves and seeks to save them. If you are obligated to pass a judgment upon someone, let it be done slowly with love and straightness, not with violence, harshness and hate. Others should sense your love and respect through your words and behavior.
If everyone knew themselves as God knows them, they would be ashamed of their own impurity, haughtiness, stinginess and of their limited knowledge and ability in science and arts. Every man should first examine himself honestly in the light of the holiness of God that he may become humble, aware of his own sins and his ruined state, disgusted with himself, broken in his proud soul and never judging others any longer but judging himself first. Blessed is the man who denies himself and takes up his own cross every day and follows Jesus. Then his pride comes to an end, and he does not judge others till he had first recognized and confessed his own corruption. Repentance paves the way for mutual understanding and love and he who gets spiritually broken is able to help the unbroken with his kindness and love and guide them to their loving Savior, the greatest psychiatrist.
Christ calls everyone who thinks himself to be better than others, a hypocrite, unaware of real matters, since he has not yet perceived his own state. On the other hand, Christ delivers whoever resorts to Him, that is prepared to accept Him, from self-conceit and carries him into the eternal abode of His love. He who believes in the Son of God shall not be condemned, but he who does not believe in the Son of God already is condemned, for he rejects his self-sacrificing deputy in the final judgment and neglected His eternal atonement prepared for the world.
PRAYER: O eternal Judge, be merciful to me, a great sinner! I have judged and despised many of my friends and leaders. Please forgive my pride and purify me from haughtiness that I may be changed and become merciful to everybody as You are merciful to us. If I must make decisions about the life of somebody, please give me wisdom, love and deliberation that I may learn Your will first. Please help me to judge and deny myself first, to take up my cross every day and follow You.
QUESTION:
- Why did Christ forbid us from judging others?