Judge not; Instead

By: Carole L. Haines

Purity is something far too deep for me to arrive at naturally. But when the Holy Spirit comes into me, He brings into the center of my personal life the very Spirit that was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ, namely, the Holy Spirit, which is absolute unblemished purity.

From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition, by: Oswald Chambers

There is a wonderful verse tucked into the Sermon on the Mount. Of course there are many such verses in that monologue of Jesus’, but one in particular has struck me several times, as God seeks to purify and transform my inner and outer life.

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
(Matthew 7:1-2 NASB)

What a beauty, right? I’m sure you are not thinking that right now.  It’s a hard Passage. Following on the heels of this statement is Jesus’ famous declaration about not trying to take the speck out of your brother’s eye when you still have a log in your own. What fascinates me about these verses is just how practical they are, if we are to examine ourselves.  Every time we feel a judgment against someone else rising up within us, we should take the opportunity to examine ourselves, or better yet, ask the Holy Spirit to do the examining, and find out what things of the same sort lurk within us.

Jesus says right here, in good old black and white, paper and ink; “The very things you judge others for, you do them yourself.”  Now we all know the word that is hurled at Christians time and again because of this sin, it is “Hypocrite!”  Now the word actually means, “actor, stage player, pretender.” None of us wants to think of ourselves that way, right?  But Jesus says that every time you judge another person, you are a hypocrite, because the very things you are judging them for you do yourself.

Precious ones, I must get caught up in judging half a dozen times a day, at least.  Maybe not consciously, but I feel it rise in my heart. Most times I won’t say it, but I think it.  Perhaps you experience the same thing, if you take an honest look at your own thought life and within your heart.  God is showing me that instead of getting down on myself because this still happens to me, after all these years of walking with Him; why not turn it on its head and use it as a chance to ask the Lord to examine me and show me the root of this judgment within myself.  I did this yesterday and prayed on the phone about it with another believer, and the release I sensed from, not only the judgment, but the sin that led to the judgment, was so thick, I could almost touch it.  Consider this an opportunity for growth, instead of voicing your judgments and bringing harm to another person, as well as bringing yourself down in the process.