The Words of Jesus #12

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This entry is part 12 of 47 in the series The Words of Jesus

Would you consider yourself a fair-minded person? I mean a person who believes in equity—who holds yourself to the same standards to which you hold others; a person who really believes we shouldn’t have double standards; a person who is offended when someone judges you for doing something and then does the same thing himself? Jesus said:

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you again.

Matthew 7:1–2 KJ2000

Frankly, this is a little bloodcurdling, but it is only fair. If I hold you up against a standard, it is only fair that I be held up against the same standard. How are we supposed to take what Jesus said here? It is problematic, because we all have to judge at times. Jesus recognized that. Take what he said to one of the churches in the Book of Revelation. He told them:

I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you can not bear them who are evil: and you have tried them who say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars[.]

Revelation 2:2 KJ2000

You can’t do that without judging. You have to look at the facts and judge whether what the man says is true or not. You are allowed to conclude that a liar is a liar. In fact, I think God would be pleased if more of us would exercise our critical faculties in matters religious and political. When a preacher tells you one thing and you can see the Bible plainly says something else, you can safely conclude that something is wrong somewhere.

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Author

Ronald L. Dart

Ronald L. Dart (1934–2016) — People around the world have come to appreciate his easy style, non-combative approach to explaining the Bible, and the personal, almost one-on-one method of explaining what’s going on in the world in the light of the Bible. After retiring from teaching and church administration in 1995 he started Christian Educational Ministries and the Born to Win radio program.

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Image Credits: David Sidlinger