We easily define the fate of people based
on what we see them do and sometimes just a general belief we have against
others, based on our assessment of their character. 

The real story about Judging others –

This reminds me of a time I drew a conclusion on my sister as being insensitive, uncaring, bitter, and
generally despicable. This quenched the love I have for her, and it was
gradually turning into hatred. I easily join others to judge her mistakes and
shortcomings. We always find fault in her, and I really supported every
demeaning word thrown at her. I felt she deserves it, and we felt that might
help her adjust her attitude of being despicable. Therefore, we kept at it.

Fast-forward to the day
I had a heart-to-heart talk with her. I realized she has not always been the
despicable sister, but a long time when I was still a baby, a traumatic
experience had affected her negatively and no one believed her. One of our
uncles had tried to have carnal knowledge of her and despite her pleas to our uncle;
he went further to abuse her sexually and threatened her never to make it known
to anyone.

“You are worth little to nothing in the family, and no one
will believe you anyway.” True to these words from our uncle, no one
believed my sister’s story when she dared the consequences of the threat and
spoke up.

These left her broken
for years, and I realized that her self-esteem was broken from a long time
ago. I saw a broken woman trying to get the attention of everyone to value her,
and understand her plight, but we were all about her negative attitude without
minding knowing what preceded such characters in her. I realized how wrong we have judged her actions, and as Christians, I began to question myself if our reactions
and judgment towards my sister are right or wrong. Now, this brought up this question in my mind, 

” What does the Bible say about judging others?”

There are many Bible verses about judging others, but I will
love to begin with the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery in John
8:2-11. The law forbids adultery and anyone caught in the act should be stoned
to death.

“And the man that
committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery
with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put
to death.” (Leviticus 20:10 KJV)

In addition, the sixth
law says, “Thou shalt not commit
adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 KJV)

That means they had justifiable reason to put her to death and
that was why she was brought to Jesus, but have you ever asked, “Why it was that only the woman was
brought to Jesus, what about the man she was caught in the act with?”

This explains why
judging others are a form of the opinion of what we see, hear or feel about
others. They felt the woman was worthy of death, but the man? He could go free
because the woman had seduced him, or maybe they initially had issues with the
woman, we would never know. However, the story was an act of criticism against
the woman. Coming to Jesus to hear what He would say about their opinion, it
brought about an encounter that questioned their judgment. 

“So when they
continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7 KJV)

One after the other, they all left the scene of the accusation
and left only the woman to receive her vindication from every judgment and
criticism placed on her by all. Just like every Accuser’s conscience pricked then that day and
they could not cast a stone, I see how often some people have judged others
based on their assessment and conclusion.

They always do this by finding faults in their fellow members.
Seeing negativity in their Pastors and Teachers and criticizing the Chorister
for singing in a wrong tone. Instrumentalists are not exempt either; they
always have something to say against others in the faith and what about others
who are not in the faith? They easily criticize them for not being
“perfect” like them, and they judge others based on their
personality, and lifestyle. We easily make judgments about standards that oppose
our benchmark.

Judging others as a Christian

However, as Christians, we need to be careful about our motives
for judging others. We do not have an idea what the other person is going
through. We do not know why they act the way they do. Likewise, we do not
understand their journey, and we do not know their story. Therefore, our
general and swift judgment of them is sometimes uncalled-for. We need to ask
ourselves sometimes, “How will Jesus react and what would He do to this
fellow I’m about to judge based on their actions and motives?”

The Bible makes us see that as Christians, we should be of a
humble, meek, and lovely heart. We should be ever ready to help others, be
respectful of people’s feelings, and be peaceful towards everyone. (Philippians
4:8)

Now we know Judging others from the Bible perspective

Now we see that what the Bible says about judging others
actually means we need to imbibe good judgment, use it in fighting for the
rights of others, and stand strong as a support system for them. This pleases
the Lord to do in us. Before you judge others, know what happened before your
presumption. Never run to conclusions, rather, give them the opportunity to air
their views. We are to speak the truth in love to each other at all times.
(Ephesians 4:15). Be careful about judging others.

Those who claim to be godly should gently support those who are
struggling and bring them back to the right path. We are to pay careful
attention to our works and see if there is a log of wood in our lives that
needs to be removed… We are to practice living like Christ and be responsible
for our conduct and not the faults of others.

 what does the
Bible says about judging people’s motives?

“Judge not, and ye
shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and
ye shall be forgiven:” (Luke 6:37 KJV)

 Again, we have more Bible verses about judging:

“Do not judge by
appearance [superficially and arrogantly], but judge fairly and righteously.”
(John 7:24 AMP)

“Therefore you have
no excuse or justification, every one of you who [hypocritically] judges and
condemns others; for in passing judgment on another person, you condemn
yourself, because you who judge [from a position of arrogance or
self-righteousness] are habitually practicing the very same things [which you
denounce].” (Romans 2:1 AMP)

This shows us that we are not in the position to judge. God is
the only one who can judge people and ours are mere assumptions that create
strife. Always allow God to be the judge of His creation and He will help you to
trust, obey, and commit every inadequacy you see in others to Him.

For I read that, we would judge Angels, and if we were to judge
Angels, would we judge them based on what we feel and hear? We would rather
allow the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, to speak through us. We should start
practicing here on Earth.

 We are meant to walk in the Spirit and when we walk in the
Spirit, we would be able to see beyond the surface and bring the right judgment to
everything else others seem to condemn. 

A worthy
example of what the Bible says about judging others

From the point of
what we see physically is the experience of Hannah when she went into the
temple to pray at Shiloh. In bitterness of spirit, she groaned in whispers to
God. She had been childless and everyone around her had used that to spite her.
She was tired and wanted a breakthrough.

Falling upon her knees in the midst of the noise, Hannah poured
out her heart to God in anguish with supplications and tears. Maybe she was the
first Eli would ever see in the temple in such a position, but Eli judged
Hannah’s actions wrongly by assuming she was drunk with too much wine. (1
Samuel 1:9-16).

let us be always mindful of judging others. Let us not be swift
to conclusions about the actions and motives we see in others. God’s desire of
every Christians is to carry the mind of Christ and exhume His fragrance of
love, peace, and understanding of each other’s differences and personalities. We
need to give everyone the benefit of doubt. Leave people’s motives up to God, who
knows the heart and sees the intent of every human.

Finally, is
judging a sin according to the Bible?

Some would think we come up with the assertion not to judge because judging is a sin,
but is that really so?

Sometimes, some things are not directly stated as sin in the
Bible, but a caution to live right with everyone and maintain a right attitude
of a godly heritage that we have in Christ.

Jesus spoke those words to help us live righteously on the path
of faith. He gave a clear view that God does not want people to judge others.
We have our limitations as humans, and that is why the scriptures put it to us
to avoid judging others based on our assumptions. God calls everyone to love
and forgive one another and if we keep judging other actions and motives, we
would live in hatred and anger against everyone, which is not Christ-like. Of
what essence is it if we would profess Christ and act otherwise as Christ?

In Romans 3:23, the Bible noted, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This
gives a clearer picture that no human can take the place of judging and
condemning others to a certain fate. Therefore, judging others is not a sin,
but it does not glorify God and whatever does not bring glory to His name, we should
avoid it with all our heart.

Bible verses about judging others

“…Do not judge and
you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive,
and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)

I hope from now on, we will always allow the Holy Spirit to
help us begin to see judging others as unnecessary and give room to discern
what is right. Bring the offense and faults you see in others to God in prayer.
Ask God to help them in truth and indeed. Let us confront others with truth, love,
respect, and not condemnation