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