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Matthew 7: Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. 3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

Don’t you just hate when judgmental people try to always “peg” you? You know what I mean. They are on point, always looking for a way to find fault in you. It’s like you have a target on your back and their quiver is full of arrows they are dying to shoot at you. Their plan is to shut you down. Kill your joy. Control your life. This sounds familiar doesn’t it? 1 Peter 5: 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Yes, there is the possibility they are part of a very elaborate plan by our enemy to keep us from soaring with the eagles!! They want to keep us tamped down and not moving into the Godly destiny that is waiting for us.

This way of living is the opposite of encouragement, and our enemy knows it and gives these people great power in their words when making judgments on your life. They think they know your heart and thus put themselves in a god-like position, which is very dangerous for them. There is only one God, and they are not Him. Our God is a jealous God and when sinful man puts himself in that place God will react. But it doesn’t’ take away the ongoing dark cloud they put over your every day of living. If they see you succeeding in something, they are drawn to cast a shadow over it as quickly as possible.

I asked my wife why people, especially Christian people, do these things? She said she thinks it is jealousy. I can surely see there is wisdom in her thinking and the above scripture takes on a new light when we look at it from this perspective. I have always looked at the above verses in such a way as to think it is talking about a righteous acting person looking down on another person with judgment. But, the verse speaks to so much more, as God’s Word usually shows. God is the judge of the intentions of the heart, so no human can put themselves in that position. Enough said!! As we come to the “heart” of the matter it exposes the true heart of the individual and I agree with my wife. The heart is full of jealousy!!

You may think “Why is this subject so important?” And the answer is, because it holds believers back from following God’s call on their life and stepping out in faith to take a stand and allow God to lift them up to a whole new level of commitment. So many people never “step up” and “step out” to follow God at a whole new level because of their fear of possibly being judged or misunderstood by those who yell insults from the sideline. I have been around armchair quarterbacks all my life and they never get in the game, but just put down and complain about those who do step up. They cause doubt to fall on their dreams and make sure those people never go to the next level in their life. All in the name of judgment! The term “Who do you think you are” is applicable here. The next time we judge someone and hold them back, we may be stifling the person who will win many to Jesus. The story below shows how judgment works both ways, so don’t get to “full of yourself” cause the other person may be judging you too!

In his little book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H.A. Ironside pointed out the folly of judging others. He related an incident in the life of a man called Bishop Potter. "He was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the purser's desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship's safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of that privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other berth. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very trustworthy person. The purser accepted the responsibility for the valuables and remarked, 'It's all right, bishop, I'll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his for the same reason!”

The Pilgrimage Continues..

David Warren