By Gary Fuller, Pastor of Gentle Shepherd Baptist Church, Lincoln, NE
Read James 4:11-12.
Have you ever felt judged by someone and become so frustrated because the person doing the judging has no idea what is involved in your situation? Having made decisions and acted upon your information, you believed most sober-minded people would have acted similarly if in the same situation with the same knowledge.
Never judge another man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.
There is an old American Indian proverb that wisely states, “Never judge another man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.”
Actually, judging seems to be both prohibited and encouraged in the Bible. So, it would be helpful to know that there are two kinds of judging. One is heartily encouraged by our Lord, and the other is expressly forbidden by our Savior and by the Apostle James.
One is judgmental discernment (Judge righteous judgment – John 7:24); the other is judgmental comparison (Speak not evil one of another, brethren – James 4:11).
In James, we are discussing comparative judgmentalism, determining the suitability of another’s actions based on our prejudices and then proudly proclaiming to others what our righteous actions would have been.
James refers to the law in verse 11. He says that by judging others, we are disparaging the law. What does the law teach us? According to Paul’s teaching in Galatians, it is a schoolmaster who brings us to Christ. The law teaches us we are sinful and incapable of doing right apart from the grace of God.
The law lumps us all into the same unsavory bucket as wretched sinners in need of salvation by the grace of God through faith in Him. We should be cognizant of the fact that we can’t judge others for what we are doing ourselves. James says that if we offend at one point of the law, we have broken the whole “kit and caboodle.”
My dear friend, let’s arm ourselves with knowledge (know the whole story), with grace (speak no evil of your brother), with self-awareness (knowing we are also sinful), and leave the judging up to the One to Whom the Father has committed all judgment.
I hope your moccasins are comfortable.
Let’s arm ourselves with knowledge, grace, and self-awareness and leave the judging to the One to Whom the Father has committed all judgment.
Reflective Questions:
- How do you feel when you are judged, even if it is a true judgment?
- When you find you have judged another, what good did it do? For you? For them? For the issue at hand?
- Are you ready to be judged using the same standards by which you judge others?
Memory Verse:
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. James 4:11
Prayer:
Dear God, help not to be judgmental. I realize that we are all sinful and incapable of doing right, apart from Your grace. Help me to rest in Your grace and treat others the way I desire to be treated.
Related Scriptures:
Romans 14:10; Galatians 3:24-25; Romans 2:1,3; James 2:10; John 5:22; Matthew 7:2; I Peter 2:1; Luke 6:37; romans 14:4
AMEN Brother Gary!