Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?  James 4:11-12 ESV

The Bible has a lot to say about judgment. I have discussed judgment versus fruit inspection in previous blogs, but today I want to talk about judgment. In Matthew 7:1-2, Jesus said, “Judge not, that you won’t be judged. For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He goes on to actually call them hypocrites and tells them to remove the log from their eye so they can see clearly to remove the speck from their brother’s eye.

When we fall into judging someone, we tend to speak evil of them. According to our Scripture passage for today this is where we fall into judging the law. We cease from being obedient or doing the law to judging the law. My friend, let me tell you this is a slippery slope. When James says there is only one lawgiver and judge, of course He’s referring to God.

The reason it is so dangerous for us to judge others is that it leads to gossip, slander and all those things we are warned not to do. In Ephesians 4:31 tells us to let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from us along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you.

In the last week, I have seen instances where people are being judged in church and this is causing division in the church. I have even heard of cases where people are being judged and asked to leave the church or being made to feel unwelcome.

This is where our churches become hotels for the elite instead of hospitals for the sick. I don’t know about you, but I was up to my neck in sin when I was in church years ago. I thank God that I was not judged, but I was loved and embraced and was able to see the error in my ways and turn to God and ask for forgiveness. I was able to go to Him and repent and be forgiven.

The problem with judgment is we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). None of us are perfect. When we judge others, we are hypocritical. This is why we need to leave judgment to the Lord.

If we inspect the fruit of others, it should be with love and kindness, not with corrupt talk that brings them down or puts a stumbling block before them. We should encourage them and try our best to help them. We should pray for them.

I encourage you to stop and think before you criticize others. Remember when the woman was caught in the act of adultery, and they wanted to stone her in John chapter 8? Jesus said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw the stone at her.” They all walked away.

In Romans 2, Paul said that when we pass judgment on others, we condemn ourselves.

Judging others causes division in our churches, it causes people to leave our churches, it puts stumbling blocks up for younger or less mature Christians. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to answer to God for that on Judgment Day. Worst of all it makes us hypocrites.

James said in 1:26 if anyone thinks he is religious but doesn’t bridle his tongue he deceives his own heart and his religion is worthless. I beg of you to consider this before you open your mouth in judgement of others. Maybe you should stop and ask, “Who am I to judge?”

Have a great day!