Judge, but don’t Judge!

Judge, but don’t Judge!

The same Lord Jesus Who said “Do not judge” in Matthew 7:1, said in John 7: 24: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment”.

Judging (critically looking down upon others with contempt) as in Matthew 7: 1, and discernment (righteous judgment) as in John 7: 24 (where the Lord Jesus Himself says to “judge with righteous judgement”) is totally different as hell and heaven.

In John 8: 15, 16, Jesus said: “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me”. From this we can understand that discernment is part of the wisdom the Lord gives us in different situations, as we helplessly cling on to Him as a branch to the vine (John 15: 5) – in order to distinguish the true from the counterfeit. And the Lord gives us discernment not to condemn anyone, but to intercede for the deceived and/or to warn others about the counterfeit.

If you don’t discern the preachers whom you listen to, you will be thoroughly deceived by many things that happen around us in the name of Christ! That is why 1John 4: 1 says: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”.

In Matthew 7: 15, Jesus Himself tells us to be beware of false prophets and in verses 16 and 20, to know them by their FRUITS (of the Holy Spirit) – that is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control (Galatians 5: 22, 23).

Jesus said in Matthew 10:16: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be SHREWD AS SERPENTS and innocent as doves”.

The apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:9: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all DISCERNMENT”.

We need to see how much a preacher reflects our Lord Jesus Christ in his humility as well as in his integrity to the Lord, especially in money matters. Only such ones are worth to be listened. May the Lord help us to judge righteously in everything!