Judging Others...

[Phill B]

Matthew 7
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For 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? 4How 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? 5You 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.

Listening to one of Ray's audios recently the message I received was - first take the plank out of my own eye, and then I will see clearly to remove the speck plank from my brother's eye!

In my dark days I used to judge like this: When problems or conflicts arose I'd put others down. For a short time it made me feel superior to them. It just seemed logical to blame all my problems on others.  But when I got into the core of the 12-step programmes I was told to make a list of all my character defects. That was big a shock. I thought, I don't have any shortcomings– do I? Boy was I a hypocrite then. But its only now that I can see some of my faults. And I'm sure I still have a long way to go on this path to righteousness.

So when I first read 'Do not judge, or you too will be judged' I wasn't sure where the line in the sand was in-between unjustly judging others, or using some level of appropriate spiritual discernment. When, as I did recently, heard Paula White proffering up some excuse justifying why she just had got divorced I thought – you liar, you make me sick. Then I thought – who am I to judge her. Am I god?  Am I still a hypocrite I wonder?

I hope not. The difference now as I see it between the old me and the new me is that, thanks to the good Lords power and guidance, I have endeavoured to do is put my heart right. I don't feel the need to put others down to lift me up anymore. My judging is based on checking where my heart is if and when I make a judgement. But this new understanding doesn't now make everything peach's and cream - thats for sure! At one time I used to think Paula White was okay, now I see her differently. Taking the plank out of my eye often makes others look even worse than before I was a blind hypocrite. Frankly I'm not sure if it okay to still judge, but I pray that when I do it's with Gods wisdom, and for the right reason.

John 12:40 (Young's Literal Translation)
`He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they might not see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and turn back, and I might heal them;'

[David]

Great post Phil.
Romans 2 compliments perfectly Christs words in Matthew 7 about Judging others. And its perfectly inline with what Ray taught in that talk, of which the general message was, get you own house in order before you can begin to see the flaws in your brothers.
God bless
David.

[Dave in Tenn]

Hi Phil.  Fortunately (?) I am blessed with the lack of knowledge of who Paula White is, so I can completely avoid the temptation.

I reckon that understanding what we ought to do or not do about judging and judgement relates to how deep our knowledge is about 'what exactly' it is.  I don't have an answer for you.  I HAVE seen a couple of titles in Ray's audios that may give some answers (as well as lots of other good edibles), though I haven't listened to them.  Hopefully somebody with more experience can point you to a good resource here.

For now, I'm content with knowing that God is a great Judge.  He's never wrong, He never judges too 'harshly' or too 'lieniently', and His judgements are for a higher purpose that's higher than I can even imagine.

Christ is Lord and we are at best His disciples.  Walk in the light you have and be prepared to be wrong.     That crazy Potter's wheel makes us all dizzy sometimes.

[Linny]

It is so funny (or so sad) that I used to sit in church hearing a sermon and think of all the people in my life that needed that lesson! 

What I have found in my years here (I am 46 years young now) is that God is always teaching me new things replacing my old beliefs. He even stair-steps me I think giving me a little bit and then more when He thinks I am ready for it. So for me to sit in judgement about what someone else believes is a complete waste of my precious time. Because oftentimes, it is what I used to believe myself! 

I try to see others as a work in progress as I myself am and give a lot more grace to them. They are God's work and I am just happy when He chooses to use me to teach them a truth. But I try to keep my mouth shut unless He tells me to speak....

But Phil, I am with you. I do know who Paula White is and all those false teachers make it harder for me to extend grace. Those are the times I have to spend time thanking God for rescuing me from Babylon!