Judge Not

Dearest Ones,

Faultfinding is a deadly disease and its catching! What did Jesus mean when He said, "Judge not?" He meant that judging is coming to a negative conclusion about someone and then condemning him. That is what Jesus forbids. We are not in the condemning business. God will take care of that.

We are not to judge the motives of others. The Bible says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7) We can judge what people do; we cannot judge why they do it. We can judge what people say; we cannot judge why they say it. Sometimes little children have been caught disobeying and you ask them why they did it, they will reply tearfully, "I don't know." That's not a cop-out; its the truth. We have a fallen nature and that's why we don't know why we do what we do.

We are not to be faultfinders. A faultfinder is one who is also called a nag, critic, grouch, grumbler and a belly acher. "It is foolish to tear down a neighbor; a person with good sense remains silent." (Proverbs 11:12) No one likes a faultfinder. This sin comes partly from pride and from envy. We criticize other in order to bring them down to our level. Is it any wonder a faultfinder is almost always a gossip? When he knows the faults of others, he can't wait to spread the news.

Here are ways we break His command, "Judge not?"

- Making mountains out of molehills.
- Passing along critical stories to others, especially if we've been told to keep them a secret.
- Putting others down in order to make ourselves look better.
- Saying "This is the truth," in order to justify spreading stories.
- Telling too many people about how others have hurt us.

I know of a family who observes the TKN rule at the dinner table. It goes like this:

T - Is it true?
K - Is it kind?
N - Is it necessary?

If a statement doesn't meet the rule, it doesn't get said. Even if it means total silence! Silence is better than breaking the Lord's command.

Jesus said if we judge others, we are a hypocrite. (Matthew 7:5) Jesus was very hard on hypocrites. He said they look saintly on the outside but inside they are full of sin. What is a hypocrite? It is a person who pretends to be what he is not. He acts in public like a saint, but in private he is a vicious sinner. First, we must judge ourselves, which is so hard to do. We are to ask the Lord to show us our sins. Until we do that, the speck in our brother's eye will look like a log to us. And we won't even see the log in our own eye.

To simply gaze on the faults of others is wrong. It turns us into judgmental Pharisees, who are quick to condemn. There is a difference between someone who loves you and wants to help you and someone who puts you under a microscope only to find fault with all you do. I have found that those most critical of others tend to have the most sins in their lives. And those closest to God tend to be the most charitable. They are the quickest to forgive and the quickest to help someone who is struggling.

We have no time to hate, no time to condemn, no time to live in bitterness and anger. In order to live without condemning, we need the help of God to deliver us from a judgmental spirit. The devil wants to keep us in a judging mode - don't give in to him. The kingdom of heaven is near at hand and anyone of us could be called at any time. We can judge others or we can forgive them, but we can't do both at the same time.

I'm praying for you,
Sister Francelle