LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 7:1-2, “Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”   Jesus

 

We begin the last section of the Sermon on the Mount with the idea that the Christian’s walk is continually being watched by our heavenly Father.  It should be a good reminder that ultimately what God thinks of us is more important than what man thinks of us.  Every Christian needs to consider that many of their problems are the result of trying to fit into the world’s philosophies instead of trying to fit into the God’s desire for them.   This world is passing away and our time on this earth is very short; living in it the way God desires is so important.

 

The Lord Jesus begins this section of the Sermon on the Mount with the instructions, “Do not judge!”  It is important to understand what He means by that statement because many have gone to extremes in order to explain what He means.  Martin Lloyd-Jones has stated the Lord, “is not speaking of not making assessments based on judgment, He is very concerned about the matter of condemning.”  Anyone else sense that the Lord is speaking directly to you?

 

Condemnation comes from a self-righteous attitude which is a belief that one is superior to another.  It is the thought process that one is always right while others are always wrong; this attitude seems to rise up in a negative way.  Perhaps the Lord is using the term judge in a way that means one enjoys the criticism of others and hopes to find fault in others in order to elevate themselves.

 

There are several reasons Jesus said not to judge.  One reason not to judge is so you won’t be judged.  One way not to be judged or criticized is not to judge or criticize others.  It seems that the key to this chapter in Matthew is to help Christians to keep in mind that each of us will have a face-to-face meeting with the Lord.  However, I must know when the actions of others are against the teachings in Scripture.  Any criticism of wrong actions should be addressed in a manner that brings the Believer into a correct walk with the Lord. 

 

One also must be careful of judging because it sets the standard by which he will be judged.  This reason is very closely associated with another reason found in Matthew 7:3-5.  Do not judge others because you are not capable of judgment.  I have been pretty quick to judge the actions of others.  At times my response has been, “Just stop!”  I have felt pretty foolish when praying and asking the Lord to help me with those sins that have plagued my life when I seemed to hear the words, “Just stop!” thrown back at me.   What about those times you have seen the sinfulness of others and are critical and realized that you have been guilty or are guilty of the same thing(s)?  How often we have judged others when we should have exercised better judgment with our own actions!   Jesus said that a person’s own condition is such that he is not capable of helping others.  To be able to help remove the speck in another’s eye make certain your eye is clear enough to help; one cannot help another while a beam is blinding your eye.

 

Jesus condemns the habit of criticizing the habits of others while ignoring our own faults.  As a Believer you must first submit yourself to God’s righteous standard before attempting to examine and influence the conduct of other Christians.  Judging in a wrong or unjust manner comes from the desire to condemn a person rather than help the person.  In order to really help a person, one must recognize their own sinful nature and be humble in dealing with the problem.

 

Let me add a final thought.  Jesus is not denying the necessity of exercising discernment or making value judgments about the sinfulness of others.  We are warned in Matthew 7:15 and in Matthew 24 and other Scripture about false prophets or ministers in the church.  Matthew 7:6 warns us to evaluate the character of others.  We will examine this thought more in the next page of the blog.

 

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