"Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you". -Matthew 7:1-2

There are relatively few people more qualified to write about this subject than I am. If they offered a degree for the "Art of Judging," I could have my doctorate. Imagine, "So, Dr. Heath, what is your doctorate in?" Rather sanctimoniously I would answer, "Judgment.”

It's fairly obvious that this is one of those subjects I would prefer to side step, but I simply cannot. I have a valued friend who will probably read this and say, "Oh Bob, this was probably one of those subjects that God was dealing with you about, not one you should share with the world." My answer to her is: “I am nothing if I'm not transparent."

Judgment is like alcoholism: You won't be delivered until you acknowledge you have a problem.

It's true of alcoholism, eating disorders, drug addiction and any other abusive condition one might have. I can't tell you how many times I have heard that comment with regard to that same situation and thought, "Duh, ya think"?

About two years ago I was about to preach the second part of a message on friendship between God and man to a group of youth at my former church. Two days before I was to preach that message, I had lunch with a trusted friend. As I told my friend about the comments I planned to make concerning judgment, she asked if I felt a bit hypocritical. She then proceeded to tell me, "Bob, you are one of the most judgmental people I have ever met." OUCH! It was that day at lunch I became aware that I might have a problem with "judgment".

“Christians aren't judgmental; we are discerning.”

I didn't see myself as judgmental; rather l saw myself as discerning, passionate and very analytical. I don't think I am much different from most believers. (I wish this wasn't so.)

Recently, I became even more aware of how serious this area is to God. My buddy and I were talking about how truly amazing Kids for Christ (the ministry I run) had been this year. As we talked he began to tell me about how seriously God had dealt with him regarding judgment. As he talked two things happened inside me:

· I realized I still had issues with being judgmental.
· I knew we had to teach the children in Kids for Christ USA meetings about judgment.

Both of these were huge tasks, but God showed His faithfulness as I began to prepare to teach the children. The Holy Spirit gave me a simple question to ask the children.

"Have you ever had someone do something to you and you said: “I'll never do that to anyone”?

As I pondered that question, I thought of several times I had done that. Please understand I am not condemning a statement of determination not to do hurtful things, just the judgment that so often accompanies it.

Jesus said:
“Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Matthew 7:1,2)

A while back my wife Shelly and I had a bit of a spat. So much so that I grabbed three books, stormed out of the house and determined that I would spend the night at my office. I was so mad that I couldn't even talk to God, I was just MAD! When I arrived at my office I began reading “Victory in the Wilderness”, by John Bevere. With every page I thought, “Shelly should be reading this…Shelly needs this worse than I do…God, why are you having me read this when clearly Shelly is the one who needs this?” (Notice the judgment?) Finally, I decided to write this message about judgment, totally oblivious to how judgmental I was acting toward my wife. I wrote for probably 20 minutes and my computer locked up. Since I had not saved the file yet, it was lost. So, I began to pray. I prayed for nearly 30 minutes. I grabbed my Bible with the intent to pray Isaiah 45 as a prayer, but I accidentally opened to Isaiah 54, 55. I thought, “Right, God, I needed to pray this, not the other.” I began to pray out loud Isaiah 44:17 (rather sanctimoniously):

“No weapon formed against me shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against me in judgment shall I condemn…”

Then I stopped and began to cry as I realized that most of the judgment I needed to apply that scripture to was the judgments I made toward others. Remember, “Judge and you'll be judged.” I had judged not only others, but I had also judged myself harshly for years. A few people picked up on the fact that I was really tough on myself, but I thought I had everyone else fooled. (Maybe I did, I don't know.)

I proved that scripture true, because I measured judgment out on myself as heavily as I had on everyone else. I know I am not alone; in fact I would hazard a bet that my problem would not have gone unchecked for so long if the world around me weren't doing the same thing to some extent.

So why do we do it? Why would a reasonably intelligent person, with an above average understanding of God's word and heart allow themselves to fall into the trap of judgment? Are you sure you want to know? Be very sure before you read on, because this could sting a bit. (At least it did me.)

We judge because of insecurity. We lack understanding of our right standing through Jesus.

In short, we judge because we do not want to be judged. Pardon me, I judge because I lack the full understanding of my right standing through the finished work of redemption through Jesus. Since this is the case, I would rather risk being judgmental than be judged by other people. I believe a quality decision to eradicate judgment from our life can only be as effective as our understanding of righteousness. (Forgive me for saying “I” so much, just trying to ease the pressure on all of us a little bit.) Frankly, most of us have a warped sense of what righteousness really is because we have failed to study it with an open mind and lay aside everything we have heard (or been taught) long enough for the Holy Spirit (who is our teacher) to teach us. The realization that our sense of self-esteem is in many cases based almost entirely on the opinion of others is too much for us to handle. If we would begin to look at ourselves (and others) through the blood of Jesus, we would notice the absence of our faults and absence of our failures because the blood of Jesus has washed them away. That of course doesn't mean do what you want because the blood of Jesus washed away your sins. On the contrary, do what you do in order to honor the blood of Jesus. If we can do that, then we can begin to take radical steps toward overcoming judgment in our lives. In fact we can begin to truly understand the Holy Spirit as our teacher and live our lives in a fuller understanding of what Jesus did in laying aside the riches of heaven and coming to this place, to give himself for us. We could begin to eradicate judgment from our lives, the body of Christ, and the world around us.

I recently read a story in a book about another minister and his wife. They live in New Orleans. One day, they decided to walk and take in the New Orleans experience. They shopped, ate crepes and enjoyed the day. Then they made the mistake of going past Bourbon Street. There standing on the corner was a young lady who approached them and asked them to buy a flower to support her church. In conversation the couple found out the girl was a “Moonie.” They hugged her as they explained the deception she had fallen prey to. She began to cry to the extent that her tears were hitting the street. Then she explained that her Christian parents and family had disowned her. “I have been cussed at, screamed at and damned to hell by Christians all day. You are the first Christians who have even been nice to me.” All it took was one couple that loved like Jesus loved to break through the bondage of that girl’s false religion and she was changed. WE CAN DO THAT TOO!!

Jesus walked this earth loving everyone. He didn’t judge them: He judged their sin, but He loved them. He loved them like a child would love and accept them. Finding fault with others is a learned response. If we focus on the faults of others, then we don’t have to focus on our own shortcomings. Hence, it is easier to live our own lives. Jesus never wanted this; He wanted (and still does) us to love like He would, because He knew He would have to leave physical the loving of others on the planet to us.

Jesus was the Son of the living God. Fully God, fully man - what a concept. Because of this He understood, lived and embodied love absent of judgment.

Jesus understood that God’s intent in the position of Father was and is to love, nurture and admonish: not to judge.

Jesus talked of loving your neighbor free from faultfinding, or judging, as you would love yourself. He was expressing the heart of the Father for us. He taught us against judging because He knew that if we judged or were critical of ourselves, we could not love our neighbor properly. Jesus knew that faultfinding and judgment is not a natural response: it is learned.

If you were to read the book of Romans with an open heart, I believe you will take drastic steps toward eradicating judgment from your life forever. Because an open-hearted person can't read Romans without beginning to see that the measure that God uses to judge you by is the blood of Jesus. What judgment can stand against that? None.