Have you heard it is not for us to judge? Have you said that yourself? Do you believe it is wrong to judge? What if I were to tell you we are to judge? Do you know how we are judge? By what standard we are to judge?
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard Christians say we are not to judge. In one respect that is true. But on the other hand, we are to judge. Unfortunately, we often judge incorrectly. We fail to discern when to judge and when not to judge.
It is true that Jesus states in Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” But we must understand the context for His statement. We’ll cover that more in a couple days. As we see in today’s passage, Jesus clearly says to judge correctly. Therefore, we are to judge in the proper situation. How do we know when to judge?
We are to judge between right and wrong. In today’s culture, we may think that becomes a murky issue. It seems right and wrong are being redefined every day. It depends on who we are talking to what is interpreted as right or wrong. That is where we make a mistake. It does not depend on who we are talking to.
What is the standard we are to judge right and wrong? We know the answer—the Bible. God’s Word. So, the real issue is not that we are not judge. The real issue is we do not know God’s Word. To be able to judge correctly, we need to study and understand God’s commands.
In today’s passage, Jesus had just healed a man on the Sabbath. He is being condemned for working on the Sabbath. But Jesus tells them they are not judging correctly. He gives them the example of the Jewish law that requires circumcision on the Sabbath. He asks why it is considered good to circumcise but not heal. We, too, often do not fully understand before we pass judgment on a situation.
I pray we all study and understand God’s Word. I pray we ask God for discernment. I pray each one of us pass judgment correctly and stop judging when it is not warranted. Read God’s Word. Ask God for discernment. God’s Word is the standard. Pass judgment correctly. Understand the context in Scripture.
John 7:24 “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
Marty Pressey 