Doesn't the Bible say "Judge not, lest ye be judged"? And "He without sin cast the first stone"?
Every one of us makes judgments every day don’t we? You say I judge people here……..but have they not also judged me? Did you judge me? Throughout His ministry, Jesus did not once address the question of judging to believers. It was always to those seeking to trip Him up. Repeatedly Jesus said it was the non-believers who were the "hypocrites", those who lived in glass houses and threw stones.
We have judges sitting on benches all over the country judging people, jurys judge….teachers judge students, parents judge their children, employers judge employees……..we all judge. But when it is done about personal stuff particularly sin…….people don’t like that.
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So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong..." I Kings 3:9.
"...judge your neighbor fairly...rebuke your neighbor frankly so that you will not share in his quilt." Leviticus 19:15-17
"May you be blessed for your good judgment..." I Samuel 25:33.
"Teach me knowledge and good judgment for I believe in your commands." Psalm 119:66. [The basis of all knowledge and good judgment is the moral commandment of Scripture.]
My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you and an ornament to grace your neck." Proverbs 3:21, 22.
"The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment." Proverbs 10:21.
"The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in darkness." Ecclesiacities 2:14
"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are not spiritually discerned [estimated, appreciated, judged, understood]." I Corinthians 2:14.
"...so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless..." Phillipians 1:10.
"Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to be judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge the angels? How much more the things of this life?" I Corinthians 6:2, 3
"But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish between good and evil." Hebrews 5:14.
"...rebuke a discerned man and he will gain knowledge." Proverbs 19:25. [See also 17:10]
"Speak up and judge fairly..." Proverbs 31:9.
"...and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth." Isaiah 11:3,4
"By Myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear [from God], and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." John 5:30.
"Stop judging by appearances, and make a right judgment." John 5:24.
"The spiritual man makes judgments about all things [examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and weighs all things], but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment [only God's]..." I Corinthians 2:15
Bottom line… It is obvious by these scriptures that God gave us all brains to decide right from wrong. We are to be fair, just, and careful while judging others, and we must remember that each of us will be judged by God with the same yardstick by which we measure others. Final judgment however, and justice for coming short of God's standard is up to Him -- not any of us.
The verse you talk about is very popular. Usually people deep in sin use it as an excuse for the sin in their life. I have used this scripture for that very same reason. No one likes to be told that what they are doing is wrong. I surely did not. But thank God in heaven that a few friends of mine pointed out things I was doing in my life that did not align to scriptures. They did it out of love They loved me enough to judge my actions. I bless them for that.
The world often takes this verse out of context and uses it to accuse Christians of being "judgmental" when they speak of sin.
Judging is a serious matter that can have powerful results. Ask any prisoner wrongfully jailed. One way or the other it can have serious and lasting effects in people’s lives. We must not hastily judge but follow the principles laid down in scriptures. God says judge with righteous judgment…(John 7:24)… by proven fact….the accuser has the right to face his accusers and judge on the basis of at least two and preferably three reliable witnesses.
These are laid out in scripture. I think some I listed back this up.
Stace said,
“But there are NUMEROUS times that you bring up God and Christianity, you bring that up nearly every other post. If you say that one need not be religious to see your side of things, then why bring it up at all
?”
I usually do not bring religion into this debate, because even though I am a Christian, I think that most people in general can see the evils of abortion without the God issue. I work for the Right to Life in my state. Many of the workers are from all faiths and one of my best friends is an atheist. It really isn’t hard to see the evils of abortion. And we all work harmoniously together towards educating people about the medical side of abortion in particular.
Most the rallies and schools and seminars we go to………we do not wear religious t-shirts, we do not cite bible verses……..we do not need too.
You ask, “If you say that one need not be religious to see your side of things, then why bring it up at all?”
You are right and most times in my work religion is not brought up. But I will say this…….I still witness whenever I think the opportunity calls for it, especially if the person brings it up first. Christ comes first in my life and my friends and family know this, particularly by my actions. I am not embarrassed to stand up for Christ anywhere or at any time. I am deeply in love with Christ. I believe in the Great Commission.
I do however respect people for whatever their faith happens to be. My in-laws are Jewish, my gynecologist is Muslim, my husband is not really a believer nor is my son…my daughter is…..I love and respect all of them. I will admit at times it is hard for obvious reasons.
I am not a Bible thumping woman………..but I make my faith noticeable by my actions.
I am sorry if I come across as unfeeling towards those who condone the slaughter of the unborn by methods that are inhuman. I think it upsets me more than anything else. I think I can tolerate a non-believer better than I can tolerate someone who values the unborn as nothing.
But I have every right to judge those whose views I find as reprehensible. I encounter hundreds of people every month during my travels and I have never encountered views as cold and harsh as those on this website.
You said, “If you would be more civil to people, and not try to assume so much about them, they'd be a lot more likely to respond in kind”
Maybe this is true. But ya know………Steen and Coffee and a few others say mean and spiteful things to not only me but other pro-lifers. Have you once or any other person said to them what you have said to me? No. Why? Because your views are their views and you have a bias against those of us who are pro-life. If I went back and reread all the post by those who are pro-choice and the mean spirited things they have said, I too would have a long list.
If I have offended anyone heart I apologize for that. I have tried to attack positions and groups. This is a subject that is deeply imbedded in my heart. To be truthful, some days I can’t even get through the day because I know so many innocent children are slaughtered. Its hard sometimes for me to sit and take people who so blatantly think that the practice of abortion is nothing.
And I’ll be honest………some comments about the unborn child here are so horrendous and they have upset me so much that I can’t even see to type a response. It literally breaks my heart.
I pray for all those who are pro-choice that one day they will see the miracle of the unborn in the womb.
