by Vinny Knowles

Created on: July 29, 2009   Last Updated: July 30, 2009

It is so easy for us as Christians to spend our time trying to decide if the actions and attitudes of our fellow Christians are right or wrong. Even though we do not don black robes and carry a gavel in our hand, we are judges none the less. We seem to think that our opinion should decide their course of action.

Often these opinions are not kept to ourselves. We must have a jury! So we circulate hints of disapproval, Did you hear what our fellow church member did? I was so surprised! That does not sound like something he should be doing. I think we should be praying for them. The truth of the matter is that we have no intention of praying for the person. We want to gain supporters for our side of the argument!

And the whole while, we have bigger flaws (gossip for one) in our own life that we are ignoring or either overlooking because we are so concerned with judging other people. The Bible has a lot to say about judging. Let us take a look at a few passages.

Matthew 7:1-5 (NLT) says, Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. If we have the habit of judging others, we can be sure that others will be looking for our weak areas as well. Tit for tat. But if we are gracious to one another, accepting their shortcomings, forgiving their offenses, and allowing them to make decisions in their lives without questioning their every move, then we will can look forward to gracious treatment as well.

Let us look at a practical application. Kathy and Leah are talking. They are both housewives. Kathy says to Leah, Have you noticed Jan's house? It is always so messy. Kathy has just set a standard that will always judge her and her friend Leah. If Kathy pops in at Leah's house and Leah has not straightened the house, she will feel she is being judged. Kathy has judged Jan has declared herself to be a straight A housecleaner. If Leah stops in at Kathy's house and finds her in a messy situation, Leah may think, She did not have any right to judge Jan!

When we judge others, we are setting ourselves up to be judged.

There is another passage that deals with this subject. It is in Romans 14:4. This verse asks a very important question. I am quoting from the King James Version because I like the wording. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?

In this chapter Paul addresses a difficult issue. Some people felt like it was wrong to eat

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