Posted on 06/17/2025 1:51:02 AM PDT by metmom
“‘For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you’” (Matthew 7:2).
Most people feel free to judge other people harshly because they erroneously think they are somehow superior. The Pharisees considered themselves exempt from judgment because they believed they perfectly measured up to the divine standards. The problem was that these weren’t divine standards—they were mere human standards they had established far short of God’s holy and perfect law.
When we assume the role of final, omniscient judge, we imply that we are qualified to judge—that we know and understand all the facts, all the circumstances, and all the motives involved. Therefore, when we assert our right to judge, we will be judged by the same standard of knowledge and wisdom we claim is ours. If we set ourselves up as judge over others, we cannot plead ignorance of the law in reference to ourselves when God judges us. We are especially guilty if we do not practice what we ourselves teach and preach.
Other people are not under us, and to think so is to have the wrong view of them. To be gossipy, critical, and judgmental is to live under the false illusion that those whom we so judge are somehow inferior to us.
This kind of judgment is a boomerang that will come back on the one who judges. Self-righteous judgment becomes its own gallows, just as the gallows Haman erected to execute the innocent Mordecai was used instead to hang Haman (Esther 7:10).
Ask Yourself
One of the more notable qualities of our sinful human nature is that the sins we seem quickest to judge in others are the ones we struggle the hardest with ourselves. Why do you think this is the case? What brings about this touchy sensitivity and indignance?
From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
I’ve always loved Jesus’s warning in Matthew 7:2. It’s more than a rebuke against hypocrisy—it’s a call to deep humility. When we judge, we assume we see clearly, as if our personal perspective were central and sufficient. That includes egocentric bias, but also anthropocentric and even racial bias—the false belief that our limited human, cultural, or racial vantage point is the standard by which all others should be measured.
Just as the sun doesn’t revolve around the Earth, God’s truth doesn’t revolve around us.
An early morning, much needed look in the mirror. For many.
Amen!
Every new day brings about new challenges and issues.
I need forgiveness every day in this flesh.
Honest folks would humbly agree.
1 John 1:9-10
Yes, I have seen this a LOT!!
It's even been noted in my hallway mirror.
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