STOP JUDGING
Matthew 7:1-5
7 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 "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? 4 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? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
TRAINED TO JUDGE
Our whole education system teaches us how to make judgment calls. We are taught how
to know the difference between right and wrong. We taught how to make decisions. When you go to the grocery store you have to judge one product against another. On the highway, you have to judge other drivers.
Therefore it is normal to judge other people. We do it without thinking. We judge how
they dress, how they comb their hair, how they talk, walk, or what kind of car they drive.
We judge their conversation, whether to agree or disagree. We may even judge their
level of education.
COMMANDED NOT TO JUDGE
V:7.1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
The Lord says don't judge other people. That is hard not to do. We have a lifetime of judging.
We are forced to judge to make proper decisions. People are thrown into the mix of our
judging system.
There are two types of Judgments we make. There is the judgment of things, processes
, and, goals. There are the judgments of people. In our mind, we have to separate the judgment of people from the judgment of things.
Some judgments have to be made to meet the requirements for a position or place.
Judgment based on emotions should never have to be made.
When it comes to people we should never judge based on envy, jealousy, hatred, or pride.
We cannot judge the character of a person based on what we see on the outside.
We cannot see the inside, therefore, we are not qualified to judge what we don’t know.
Jesus gives us the consequences or rewards for judging. If we judge poorly, we will
be judged poorly. If we judge rightly we will be judged rightly. However, you may
not know whether you are judging rightly.
Considering the place and the time. Jesus probably was referring to fault-finding.
The Israelites were ruled by professional fault finders. The Sanhedrin 70 plus 1
were the civil rulers of the Jewish nation. They held themselves as the standard for
religious living. They thought themselves more knowledgeable than the Word of God
Mark 7:9
9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God to observe your traditions!
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law found fault with the teaching of Jesus. They found fault with the written law of God that they were responsible for teaching. They took it as their duty to discredit Jesus to return the attention of the crowds back to them.
Jesus warns us not to judge because we will be judged the same way. Finding
fault with others, causes them or some other people to find fault with you.
None of us are without faults. Some are worse than others.
I would hate for others to judge me by my faults. Some are available to see and some are
hidden. I would hate for people to think about me the way I have thought about others.
Have you ever started talking bad about someone to yourself? Have you ever started thinking bad about something and knew you didn’t have the evidence to back up what you were saying?
NOT QUALIFIED TO JUDGE
Matthew 7:3-5
3 "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? 4 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? 5 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.
It is easier to see someone else's faults than to look at your own. We are not qualified to judge because we have our faults, Our faults block us from seeing others as they are.
There is a major difference between a speck of sawdust and a plank. What that indicates is we are hiding our major faults. However, we point out the minor faults of others. Perhaps to rid ourselves of the guilt, we justify ourselves by faults we see in others.
The moment we think of judging anyone, we should stop and look in the mirror. Before
thinking evil of someone we should first consider the evil we have done.
God does not need us to point out anyone's faults. He wants us to correct our own.
Once we start judging others we have taken our focus off the commands of God.
Love the Lord, then love your neighbor.
Judging according to the desires of the flesh is not loving but hating.
Judging is taking on a responsibility that was not given to you.
Isaiah 11:3-4
He (Jesus) will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
With justice, he will make decisions for the poor of the earth.
There is but one judge, and it is not you. It is God.
God says when we judge others we are nothing more than hypocrites.
REASONS WHY WE JUDGE AND SHOULDN’T
What are the reasons of the flesh that people judge others?
They despise others.
They are jealous.
They are envious.
They want revenge.
They pride themselves on being better than others.
They make assumptions about a person without knowing their story.
Judging labels a person in your mind causes you to react in a negative manner
toward them which has no basis.
All of these are evil motives that lead us to the wrong conclusions.
Romans 12:2
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
When we judge someone it unsettles us. Judging unites you with a person in a
negative way. Judging forces you to keep them in your mind.
Psalms 34:14-15
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
Judging others never leaves you in a peaceful state of mind.
You always wonder if your thoughts are right. Judging may lead you
to actions that are unpleasing to God.
Judging interrupts peace and puts you on a guilt trip.
You could have helped when you didn't help.
You could have loved it when you showed indifference.
You could have sought to calm a situation, but you inflamed it.
You could have shown compassion when you neglected one's needs.
You could have forgiven, but you chose revenge in words, thoughts, and actions.
You could have taken time to understand, but you chose ignorance.
Judging others always has consequences.
John 12:48-49
48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him on the last day.
There is a judgment day coming when Jesus will judge every person according
to his/her deeds.
It may seem like it is nothing to judge, but it is an ungodly act,
that does not go unpunished.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO OTHERS
The moment you come to a place of judging, you are set into a place of responsibility to the person you are in a mindset to judge.
V:5 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.
Your first responsibility to the one you came to the point of judging is to clean up your
act. Reflect on your faults and correct them. When you look in the mirror you will see
a dirty rag stained with unrighteousness.
Get yourself in the right frame of mind.
Ask God to give you for coming to that place of judging.
Your second responsibility is to be a help to the person you are going to judge.
If I am going to take a speck out of a person's eye, I need clear eyesight.
Since Jesus is the light of the world. I must go to Jesus for guidance and
directions.
I cannot get to Jesus until I am restored to the right fellowship with Him.
The first thing I must realize is that to get to a state of judging others, I
had arrived in pride.
Since God hates the proud, I am in a bad situation. I remember what God
did to Satan when pride was found in him, he was kicked out of heaven.
Isaiah 14:12-13
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
Ezekiel 28:2
"'In the pride of your heart
You say, "I am a god;
I sit on the throne of a god
NIV
When you arrive in a state of pride, you have put yourself above the standards of God.
Your pride causes God to act on you.
Proverbs 16:18
18 Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.
BE TRANSFORMED TO HUMBLENESS
It is by the mercy of God that I come to the knowledge that I am judging
others.
My recourse is to immediately humble myself before the Lord.
Proverbs 29:23-24
23 A man's pride brings him low,
but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.
Once I have humbled myself before the Lord and asked for forgiveness, I am in a
state to be used by the Lord to help the one I was about to judge.
You can’t help anyone until you have been reformed. That reformation takes place in the
Lord. Reforming from a state of pride to a state of humbleness is a spiritual
transformation.
Romans 12:2
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
So how do you get out of this desire to judge others? Humbleness is the way
Billy Graham's ministry suggests a 12-step program
1. Routinely confess your sin to God (Luke 18:9-14).
2. Acknowledge your sin to others (James 3:2, James 5:16)
3. Take wrong patiently (1 Peter 3:8-17)
4. Actively submit to authority…the good and the bad (1 Peter 2:18).
5. Receive correction and feedback from others graciously (Proverbs 10:17, 12:1).
6. Accept a lowly place (Proverbs 25:6,7).
7. Purposely associate with people of a lower state than you (Luke 7:36-39).
8. Choose to serve others (Philippians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 4:5, Matthew 23:11).
9. Be quick to forgive (Matthew 18: 21-35).
10. Cultivate a grateful heart 1 Thessalonians 5:18)
11. Purpose to speak well of others (Ephesians 4:31-32).
12. Treat pride as a condition that always necessitates embracing the cross (Luke 9:23).
Once we are in a humble state of mind, God can use us to be the help others need.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
IF YOU JUDGED SOMEONE IN THE PAST, HOW CAN YOU
CORRECT IT NOW?
IF YOU JUDGED SOMEONE IN THE PAST AND FOUND OUT
THAT YOU WERE RIGHT, DID THAT MAKE IT RIGHT?
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