Judge justly or propagate injustice. How do you judge? “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matt 7:2NIV) Do you feel like you’ve been wrongly treated and unfairly judged? Does it seem like others get favor while you get the shaft? Well then it’s time to turn the microscope around and examine the condition of your own heart. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Gal 6:7) And “judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13) You can’t be critical without being hypocritical and being critical puts you in critical condition.
So what’s the answer? Forgiveness and Mercy. When you forgive you give mercy and when you give mercy you also receive it. And mercy triumphs over judgment. So you can be critical and look at what’s wrong or you can look at what’s wrong in the light of what’s right. And what’s right God’s judgment and even though He could have condemned us He chose to have mercy on us. For “the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” (James 5:11b) Who also said, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (Heb 8:12) Now it’s your turn! If you what to feel good and have a clean heart and a clear conscience then give mercy, forgive and be forgiven! Then you’ll start singin like James Brown, I FEEL GOOD, I KNEW THAT I WOULD NOW, I FEEL GOOD, I KNEW THAT I WOULD NOW SO GOOD, SO GOOD, I GOT YOU!”
Luke 6:36-38
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
37 "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
NKJV
John 7:24
24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.
NKJV
John 7:24
24 Don't be nitpickers; use your head — and heart! — to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right.
MES
John 7:24
24 Be honest in your judgment and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously.
AMP
Isa 11:2-3
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
NKJV
1 Sam 16:7b
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
NKJV
2 Cor 5:16
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.
NKJV
2 Cor 5:16
16 Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value].
AMP
2 Cor 5:14-21
Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. 15 He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
16 Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. 17 Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! 18 All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. 19 God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. 20 We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
21 How? you say. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
MES
Matt 6:9-15
9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
NKJV
Mark 11:25
25 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
NKJV
Col 1:9-14
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
NKJV
