PASTOR OLUWASEYI OSANYINBI
MATTHEW 7:1-6(KJV): “Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”
LEVITICUS 20:10(KJV): “10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”;
ROMANS 2:1(KJV): “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”;
ROMANS 15:1(KJV): “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”; [biblegateway passage=”JOHN 8:5-15″ display=”JOHN 8:5-15″]
We have an evolving culture of hiding under the liberal philosophy that makes it impossible to point out people’s wrongs to them and it’s creeping into the church. Jesus, whenever He taught people, always sought to undo the wrong practices of His days. The Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Him in order to trap him. They tried to quote the Law of Moses, however it was inaccurate since only the woman was brought and the man was left out. Jesus handled the case wisely and God was glorified.
At some points, we can have issues in our personal lives to deal with. When we come to Jesus and he points out our faults to us, it is not for the purpose of condemnation; it is for correction. God overlooking our faults does not mean he condones them. He is always interested in people repenting. We need to find the point of balance when it comes to judging people. We need a good conscience to judge things rightly. Our intention should always be to recover people rather than destroying them.
JOHN 8:15-16(KJV): ” 15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. 16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.”
1 CORINTHIANS 2:16(KJV): “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.”;
LUKE 6:37(KJV): “37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”, [biblegateway passage=”1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-5″ display=”1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-5″]
We shouldn’t take certain positions because we want to benefit ourselves. We must learn to judge after the Spirit rather than after flesh. We must not be like the people of the world who stereotype people based on tribe, race, class, etc. We can judge people provided we are not doing the same things we seek to condemn. We only have authority to talk about certain things only when we have been through them. There is a principle of Christ which deals with handling the weak. When we think we are strong we should learn to deal with the infirmities of the weak in love.
We need to give up somethings in order to help those who are weak. The spiritual man judges all things because he is over and above. He has once been tempted and he has overcome. In correcting people, we have to be mindful of ourselves so that we will not be caught in the same temptation. We have to be open to ourselves as brethren so that we could be preserved ([biblegateway passage=”James 5:16″ display=”James 5:16″]).