Anyways, my readings today come from Matthew, Exodus and Proverbs.
These verses from Matthew 7 caught my eye this morning
1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
But these verses do they really say not to judge OR are they offering them as a word of warning?
"judge not, that you be not judged". Seems fairly straight-forward eh? Don't judge others SO THAT you are not judged.
Well.. did you know that EVERYONE will be judged?
First life, then death, then the judgement. That's the sequence of life.
For those who love God and follow after him, we don't need to fear judgement because Christ died for us. He paid for us the penalty.
This of course doesn't mean we can do whatever we want... because following after God means doing the things of God to the best of our abilities BECAUSE of our love for him. That's the catcher eh? :) Our faith in God needs to take priority.
So knowing this...that all will be judged, what do these verses really mean?
I honestly believe that they mean BE CAREFUL. Note that how you judge others will be the standard by which you are judged.
So that doesn't mean you can't judge, but by judging you open yourself up to the same thing.
If I judge others and see something in them, am I missing something in my own life that needs dealing with? That's what I need to consider.
If telling people something is wrong and out of the will of God judging them?
No.
It's making a statement. It's stating what is.
Now.. if I say "you are a horrible person because you do thus and such".. well.. you know what.. that's judgement. No other way to put it. Do you want folks doing that to you? Well goodness gracious... don't be doing it others. Seriously.
And that is what this verse calls us to. Not to judge others. Warning us that by offering up judgement we call ourselves into question as well. Look carefully at your own life, see what you need correction in, and when you look at the actions of others, consider how you would want to be corrected, and then offer that correction with the same regard you would offer it to yourself. Judge the action, not the person. :) And be ye ever so careful. :)