How that Whole “Do Not Judge” Business Works
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged;
do not condemn, and you will not be condemned;
forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.”
He also told them a parable: “Someone who is blind cannot lead another who is blind, can he? Won’t they both fall into a pit? A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.”
Some people try to clean up the wording of their actions to make their unchanged lives fit into this verse. “I’m not condemning them, I am just saying that I don’t think they are a very good person.”
Or we try to separate the person’s actions from the person and hate the sin and not the sinner.
It’s complicated, isn’t it? Because at the same time, we have wisdom and discernment of what is good and bad — right and wrong — and we want to make good decisions and teach our kids to do the same.
Remember, every parable that Jesus used to teach, He lives out somewhere else in the scriptures. This whole judgment thing would be a lot easier if He didn’t, but He did.
While hanging on the cross, about to die one of the most unjust deaths ever, Jesus prayed that His killers would be forgiven. He didn’t break into a dissertation about how their actions were bad but they were really good kids on the inside. He didn’t discount or explain away what they did and blame the system that had trained them to disregard life.
Jesus also said at one point that He wasn’t the judge. He said in Matthew 12:37
‘for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.’
Sometimes in our trying to be like Jesus, we try too hard to be Revelation Jesus with a sword and fire and not the Gospel Jesus (Gospel=Good News) that teaches forgiveness.
Jesus isn’t a blind fool. He’s the wisest of wise that the world has ever been given. We should do what He says. When He said a fully trained disciple will be like his Teacher, the book of Revelation wouldn’t be written for 70–90 years later!
Finally, if for no other reason, forgive and show mercy to others because you need it shown to you. When Jesus died for my sins, HE DIED FOR A LOT. If we ever think otherwise, we fool ourselves.
If Jesus took away all of my sins, then He can surely take away all of the sins of any person I come across today. Anybody that starts to get judged by me is also waving to me that they too have a lot of sins that need to be forgiven.
And Jesus can do it. Maybe He already has. Maybe He is just about to.
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