Our judgement of others and situations that they might be involved in can happen in a split second. We can form and verbalize judgements without even realizing it. Perhaps we might justify such judgements and consider that we are entitled to have an opinion, or we are judging a situation because we love the person involved. But the words of Jesus are simple and yet Oh so challenging. He opens his words with the simple command "Do not judge."
The way Jesus approaches this is to tell us to consider our own life rather than being concerned with our neighbor's behavior and actions. How can we ever be in a position to judge another's life, when in fact our own is not spotless before God? "Who are you to judge the servants of someone else?" (Romans 14:4)
The Bible declares many times that God alone is the judge. Only he is qualified to judge all situations, because he is all knowing. He does not delegate this authority to human beings. If we presume to take on his role as judge, we are setting ourselves above God, as if we know more than he does.
When we allow God to be the judge of a situation, we are putting our faith in him. And of course the opposite is true: when we usurp his authority and try to judge, we are showing a lack of faith. When we leave judgement to him, we are declaring that we are in submission to him and trust him to make the right decision.
Every occasion when we are tempted to judge another person is in fact a God-given opportunity for us to examine our own life, and, with his help, to remove the log that is in our own eye.
- 4 DECEMBER -