Hello
In Matthew, Jesus told his followers not to judge others. He said that if we do judge others, we will be judged ourselves.
“Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” (Matthew 7:1-2)
In Luke, Jesus said the same thing, but also warned against condemning others.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.” (Luke 6:37)
The language Jesus used on these occasions is unusually strong. He warns us, his followers, that if we judge others we will be judged, and if we condemn others we will be condemned. So we need to think very carefully about whether we are judging or condemning others.
God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Only God can look at the heart. We cannot know what is in another person’s heart. So, we cannot judge or condemn another person.
Jesus tells us to be merciful (Matthew 5:7). If we are merciful, we will not judge others or condemn them.
Jesus tells us to be meek (Matthew 5:5). “Meek” is not a common English word today. The Greek word used in this verse can also be translated “kind” or “gentle”. If we are kind and gentle, we will not judge others or condemn them.
Jesus tells us to be humble. (Too many times to list here, but I’ve listed the occasions Jesus said this in a footnote at the end of the article.) If we are humble, we will not judge others or condemn them.
Jesus tells us to forgive others (Matthew 6:14-15). If we forgive others, we will not judge them or condemn them. Again, here, Jesus uses strong language, saying that if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. (This is scary stuff.)
Most importantly, Jesus tells us to love others. If we love others, we will not judge them or condemn them.
There is still a question: What should I do when I see a sister or brother behaving in ways that are in conflict with Jesus’ teachings? First, I will need to pray. This is most important. While praying I need to do some careful, thoughtful, examination of my own heart and motives before I say anything. Also, I must ask myself “Is this person’s behavior clearly in conflict with Jesus’ teachings?”. Another question worth asking is “Who is getting hurt?”. If nobody is being hurt or damaged by this person’s behavior, is it really in conflict with Jesus’ teaching? But the most important thing I must do before saying anything to the person is to pray. I suggest praying “Your will be done” from the heart. If our loving Father doesn’t want me to talk to this person about their behavior, then I don’t want to do it. On the other hand, if he does want me to talk to them, he will give me the wisdom and humility I need to serve them. My motive should be that I want to serve them.
If, after prayer and reflection, I am certain that their behavior is in conflict with Jesus’ teachings, and that people are being hurt or damaged by it, Jesus gives me clear guidelines as to how I should act. We find this teaching in Matthew 18:15-16. Jesus says the first thing I should do is talk to the person and talk to them when the two of us are alone. I think this is really important; I must avoid the temptation to talk to other people about the person. However, Jesus says that, if the person won’t listen to me when I talk to them alone, then I should get one or two others to come with me and try again. (For more detail on this teaching, check out the article “What did Jesus say about dealing with corruption, abuse and conflict in our Churches?” Link below.)
OK. But, once I’ve got them on their own, what do I say to the person? How can I draw their attention to their behavior without judging or condemning them? Answer – I must focus on the behavior, not the person. Each of us will have a different way of approaching this. I could draw their attention to the relevant teaching and I could let them know I think their behavior is causing problems for others and ask them what they think. I should do this quietly, humbly and prayerfully. Ideally, the person I am talking to should be in no doubt, in their heart, that I am not judging them and I want to help them.
I know this is difficult. But I also know that God goes with me when he wants me to do something difficult. If I pray, and am humble, God will give me whatever I need in order to do what he wants me to do.
We live in societies where judging others and condemning others is regarded as normal. We see our political leaders judging and condemning others all the time. As followers of Jesus, we must show a different way of behaving.
We trust that God will lead us into a right way of thinking about others. That way is always love.
One last thought. We don’t just judge and condemn others when we are talking to them. We must be careful not to judge or condemn others when we are talking about them – including when we talk online. If I am a follower of Jesus, I won’t judge or condemn anyone online.
Just one personal thing. If you are a follower of Jesus, I’d be particularly grateful for your feedback on this article. Please pray about it and, if you want to, leave a comment, or contact me by email peter@followtheteachingsofjesus.com. Thanks.
May our loving Father bless us, strengthen us, and encourage us as we walk with him.
Peter O
Jesus’ teachings on being humble: Matthew 11:29; Matthew 18:1-5 (see also Mark 9:33-37; Luke 9:46-48), Matthew 19:13-14 (see also Mark 10:13-15; Luke 18:15-17), Matthew 20:25-28 (see also Mark 10:42-45), Matthew 21:5; Matthew 23:11-12 (see also Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14); John 13:3-15.
Related articles
“What did Jesus say about dealing with corruption, abuse and conflict in our Churches?”
“What did Jesus say about being humble?”
“What did Jesus say about loving others?”
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To the followtheteachingsofjesus.com owner, Keep the good content coming!
Thank you brother! Your teaching is the true teaching! Once I saw myself as a Pharisee — I fell on my face in repentance. Thank you!
Sheryl
You are very welcome.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Peter O
Churches following God and his begotten son Jesus Christ “must unite as one” the commandments made by God in the New Testament . First commandment .
Love thy God with all thy heart all thy soul and all thy mind.
Second commandment
Love thy neighours as thyself.
Because only Jesus can read hearts I pray to never judge another persons heart.
Most certainly not a heart of love.
I will shout if you are going to commit murder. Slander. The 10 commandments.
Sure we shouldn’t judge anyone as only God can see their hearts. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have the ability to know what kind of person they are based on their actions. God gives us a moral compass and the ability to identify good and evil in a person through their actions (Matthew 7:15-21). Similar to what Dr. Luther King stated about judging others not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I’m sure the good Dr. didn’t mean judging in the way of someone’s heart but likely by their actions and man’s law and repercussions of those actions regardless of what they look like (this applies to EVERYONE). People get things twisted in todays age. They would rather remain passive than face confrontation or rebuttals for their beliefs in God. Speak up, Jesus was very direct leaving zero room for misinterpreting on what He said about believing and following in Him. You know right from wrong. You know evil and good when you see it. So when you do, speak up and don’t be ashamed of your faith in Jesus or He too will be ashamed of you in the presence of God (Matthew 7:15-21). God is going to back you up if you stand on the side of riotousness. Read the stories of conflict in the Bible and that should
instill the strength and confidence in you that God has always and will always have your six. And being a believer in God makes you STRONG, not weak. The evil that exists in this day and age suggests and would have you believe the later. But be assured that being a good man and believer in Jesus doesn’t mean you are to lay down and be a push over to corrupted men and that you are afraid to face these spiritual conflicts head on in the name of Jesus. Trust in God, don’t be passive, and stand with Him.
Lastly, I’m just a man like you. I am a sinner like everyone else. I wrestle with the same principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places just like everyone else (Ephesians 6:12).
This being said, we must all don the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and always be prepared for battle.
AMEN Warrior! Yeah that! We, like the Hebrews, are supposed to be about the actions of ourselves and others. If we truly serve God (YHVH), our /others routine actions will show it. If we /others don’t cling to Jesus (Yeshua), that will show too.
Being humble does not mean avoiding conflict.
Well said. Christ calls for us to judge righteously in John 7:24. We must use His standard of judgement. Anything else is sin.
Believers do have a teaching function–concerning Biblical righteousness and sins. People today think tolerance of biblically named sin is love –but tolerance without teaching is sending a message that God doesn’t care if we sin. And sin gets people in a ton of trouble.
yes but we still shouldn’t judge them. We are all sinners and fall short. I have judged I wont lie and I am trying my hardest not to. It is a condition we all have thinking we are self righteous, for that I am terribly sorry and ask for forgivenss, and mercy for all of us.
Truly.
Peter, I’m enjoying reading all your insights. I’m a man in search of truth and even sent you a very long email regarding my journey. In regards to this article, I love the approach you use with others to address sinful behavior and addressing them in a way that we are not condemning them. As you said, we are all sinful. We all fall short in the eyes of God and I love the idea of looking at the positive aspects that we can present versus the negative which comes across as judgment. I look forward to responding to my email too! Your brother in Christ, John
John. Thankyou for this comment. I have received your email and will respond to it soon.