A L M A C I A S

PASSING JUDGMENT ON OTHERS

Have you ever found yourself judging others about things of which you yourself are guilty? It has been said by some that the faults we tend to find in others normally are the faults we ourselves have. The apostle Paul made reference in his letter to the Romans to some who were judging others, yet were guilty of the same offense. We read in Romans 2:1-3, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest does the same things. But we are sure that the judgement of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God?" What do the Scriptures say about fault-finding and about judging others as we sometimes do? In the passage we just cited, Paul clearly stated that a person who was judging others and was guilty of the same was an inexcusable person. Paul did not say that the person who was being judged, and was in fact guilty of certain wrongs, was justified before God. But his comments were directed to the person making the judgment, who was also guilty and who thus condemned himself.

There are so many things that are involved when we make judgments of others that we need to be very careful in doing so. We are not prohibited from making some judgments, but we are instructed to follow certain guidelines whenever we do. As we continue to analyze what Paul wrote to the Romans, we also find that we can be completely wrong about a person when we judge them, because we cannot know the motives for all they do or say. Some things are very apparent, but others are not so clear. We see a person's face, or we hear a person's tone of voice, or even hear what they say sometimes; and still we could be completely wrong in the judgment that we might make of that person. Paul said that it was God's judgment that was according to truth when judging some for having done certain things. When God makes a judgment of someone, He not only knows what they did but also the motives behind it. God is able to know what is in the heart of a person as he performs his actions. We, on the other hand, do not have that knowledge. How careful are we when we go about looking for faults in others, and what is our motive? Let us not do it just to try to make ourselves look better, at the expense of others.