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Did you know that ‘Judge not lest ye be judged’ is one of the most popular scriptures amongst believers and unbelievers.
The scripture is found in Matthew 7:1 and is often misused and paraphrased to ‘only God can judge me’, which we’ve seen many rappers, celebrities and peers use.
But there is a problem.
The phrase “only God can judge me” has become a new way of dodging rebuke even when people know that they are wrong and people go further to pull out one verse in a passage of scripture to support their claim. But let’s be real, saying; “Only God can judge me”…doesn’t mean only God can correct you.
I encourage you to read the entire passage in Matthew 7 and come to the understanding that when scripture says…
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.’
…the passage is not speaking about not judging at all – it is telling us not to judge unfairly, apart from the truth and not to judge when we ourselves are hypocrites on the same matter.
Make sure you’re 100 on the issue before checking another person. Cut your own grass before peering into your neighbours field. Discipline yourself, so that you will not be disqualified by the word which you have preached to others (1 Corinthians 9:27).
In John 7:24, Jesus tells us to judge, but to do so righteously. Righteously means to use the absolute Truth of God’s Word to discern and to do so out of pure love with the aim of nurturing the goodness in the individual.
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 says that we are authorised to judge. We must judge, unless we wouldn’t be able to discern good from bad, proper from improper and righteous from evil.
But…judge the behaviour and not the individual. Judge the choice and not the chooser. Judge the deed not the doer. The individual is accountable for their deed/choice, but judge the deed/choice using The Word of God.
So, in a nutshell…;Only God can judge you’…yes, He can judge you, but He is saving that for later.
Right now, The Word of God and His ambassadors, being Believers can, should and will judge you.
Correction won’t always feel nice, but it is beneficial . ‘Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid’.(Proverbs 12:1)
Hosea 4:6, ‘my people perish for lack of knowledge’.
Some people are too busy avoiding correction in the name of ‘only God can judge me’ and they end up perishing because they were ignorant to the vital knowledge in that correction. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather feel the pain of discipline than the pain of losing my soul.
 You as a believer have the authority to judge, but you must do so after checking yourself on the matter, based on scripture and out of love! (Galatians 6:1)
Whewwww, that was a lot for one newsletter, but it has been a while, so its only right 🙂
I hope it all makes sense and please check the scriptures that I have referenced.
Have a blessed week and I am sending my love from Dubai!
— Kanayo Dike-Oduah
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Hi Kanayo, 🙂 From twitter to wordpress, you always inspire & motivate me spiritually! Thank you… that is the reason why I nominated you in this lovely blog award that’s been going around: http://pixiesandstardust.com/2014/10/02/onelovelyblogaward/ and hopefully more and more people see your blog and find God in it. 🙂
Awww bless you sweets. Thanks xx
Reblogged this on zionspearl.