Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged

CBN.com -- One of our besetting sins is our judgment of one another. This despite the fact that our Master, Jesus Christ, has commanded us not to be judgmental.

So often our ideas about others are based on totally false assumptions or erroneous presentations by others about the person or persons in question. We often go through life thinking conclusions that have little or no basis in reality.

Case in point: I recently met a person whom I have heard vilified by many professing followers of Christ. Well, the person I met - and the person I had heard about turned out to be two completely different persons.

This individual was kind, soft-spoken, brilliant, and a follower of Christ. Wow, were my sources ever wrong! Therefore my perceptions were mistaken. How sad it would have been to have lived my whole life believing the false reports.

Remember, Israel had to stay in the wilderness for forty years after believing false reports from ten of the twelve spies sent into the Promised Land. It is somehow in our nature more acceptable to believe bad reports than good ones.

Scripture commands us in Philippians 4:8 to do this:

“Fill your minds, on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”

Outward appearances are a poor criteria upon which to make conclusions about anyone. And other testimonies can be false as well. Judge not that ye be not judged! These are strong words and a powerful commandment from our Lord, one that He expects to be followed. Oh, and one thing more: bearing a false witness about someone else is also a sin.

Used with permission by author, Dan Betzer. Previously published on ByLine OnLine, copyright © 2005 Media Ministries of the Assemblies of God.