We have been talking about our tendency to judge others when we don’t like them or what they say or do. We attach names to them like, “liar”, “coward”, “hypocrite”, “adulterer”, or whatever sin they have committed that describes, to us, who they are.

We stand apart from them, wagging a finger, thinking, if not saying, that we are not like them.

Jesus personalised our attitude in a story.

Luke 18:9-14 NLT
[9] “Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: [10] “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. [11] The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! [12] I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ [13] “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ [14] I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Does this story not mirror our hearts every time we pass judgment on another? Let’s not relegate the attitude of the Pharisee to…well, someone else, not us!

Our judgment can be spoken or unspoken but the attitude is the same. Contempt is what we feel for someone who has said or done something WE WOULD NEVER DO!

What is Jesus’ perspective on this practice?

Jesus took a dim view of those who gloated over the misfortune of others. He sounded a severe warning to those who reported on the violent death of some Galilean worshippers at Pilate’s hands.

Luke 13:1-5 NIV
[1] “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. [2] Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? [3] I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. [4] Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? [5] I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

His words are blunt and to the point.

Matthew 7:1-2 NLT
[1] “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.”

First, a warning. Don’t judge because you will be judged by your own standards.

Second, a prescription. Before you label someone else, look at yourself first. That should bring us down to earth if nothing else does. We may not be guilty of the sin we judge in others but we are guilty of so much else…hypocrisy, to start with.

Matthew 7:3-5 NIV
[3] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? [4] How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus hated hypocrisy because hyposricy is lying….living behind a mask of holiness when the person behind the mask is as guilty as the one he judges.

Third, come clean with God. When you tell the world around you what you think of another person, you inadvertently compound your own guilt. When you tell God what you think, you hand the person and his doings over to God.

It’s like putting the person in a box, sealing the box and labelling it with the name and your opinion of the person inside. You give the box to God, take your hands off and let Him take responsibility for him or her.

Let me tell you a story.

I had a friend who regularly failed to keep arrangements with me. How frustrated I became when I waited in vain for her to arrive. At that point in my life, I felt insecure and needed her friendship to affirm me. He failure to keep appointments kept telling me I was unimportant to her.

One Saturday afternoon, once again she neither came nor apologised for her non-arrival. I was so angry that I fell on my knees at my bedside and poured out my resentment, bitterness, disappointment, call it what you like, to God. I told Him what I thought of her, using all the worst words I could think of. I called her a coward and a hypocrite and ended my prayer with, “God, I hate her!”

There! Now I had done it! I thought I had blown it with God.

Turns out, it was the best thing I could have ever done. I took that box with her inside, and labelled it on the outside with the worst possible judgment I could think up, and gave it to God.

As far as I know, it didn’t change her but my action changed me! From that moment on, my animosity towards her was gone. I could look her in the face and feel nothing. Not only did God change my attitude towards her but He also broke my feelings of insecurity and the need for acceptance and affirmation. From that moment in, I was free from the co-dependence on another for security. From then on, the Holy Spirit began to teach me to love Jesus and be loved by Him.

“Spilling your guts,” I call it. While judging others is sure to call down God’s judgment on us, telling others our verdict makes our guilt even more sure. When we parcel up our offender and give it, together with our ever-so-false verdict, to God, we free ourselves of a responsibility that belongs to God alone.

You see, Jesus, Son of God, could forgive because He knew the whole story. He had every right to judge His killers but, instead, He forgave because He knew that they had no idea of the consequences of what they were doing.

For us, the bottom line is, there’s a story behind every person’s behaviour and way of life, of which we are totally ignorant. For us to judge is to think we know it all.

Yet, despite everything God knows about every person, He still shows mercy.

James 2:12-13 NLT
[12] “So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. [13] There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.”

As the NIV translates

[12]”Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, [13] because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Mercy triumphs over judgment! That’s God’s way and He wants us to make it ours.