“Clear Judgment”

Saturday, July 28, 2012

     What does it mean to judge and to condemn?  Give me an example.

Sincerely,
Always Learning

Dear Always Learning,

To judge means to form an opinion or conclusion on something.  Oftentimes, it is used to refer to forming an opinion or coming to a verdict regarding someone.  The Bible makes it clear that having good judgment is important.  For example, Pr 24:23 says that a person who is biased in his judgments (i.e. treats one person more favorably than another) is not wise or good.  Pr 29:26 says that all righteous judgment comes from God.

It is impossible to go through life without making judgment calls, and whenever we judge something (or someone) as bad, we are condemning.  To condemn means to express disapproval of.  For example, when Jesus judged that the Pharisees were false teachers, He condemned them and expressed His disapproval.  We all use judgment, but the key is what type of judgment we use.

Matt 7:1-2 says that the judgment we use will be applied to us.  If we are mean, selfish, or hypocritical in our judgments, we can expect the same treatment from God.  That is why Jhn 7:24 says that we shouldn’t judge based off of appearances, but instead, we should always use righteous judgment.  The goal for Christians is to make judgments based off of the wisdom found in the Scriptures.

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