“You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me.” – John 8:15-16
Imagine a criminal suspect is brought before a judge on account of an armed robbery committed at a convenience shop. The prosecutor presents before the judge evidence ranging from timestamps to eyewitness testimonies, to cell phone recordings; all of which would reasonable persuade any man to judge the suspect guilty of the crime. It might even be considered foolish not to Judge him as such… yet God calls the believer to just that same foolishness. Even with the most convincing evidence, God calls the Christian not to pronounce judgment until He Himself verifies the matter. It’s the outworking of the words of Christ when He said “I judge no one…yet if I do judge…I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me”.
Although we are not literal judges in literal courts decreeing verdicts on real cases, the courtroom we want to consider today is the courtroom of our hearts. It’s that courtroom of the inner man where we examine evidence collected through our eyes, our ears, and our own human perspectives. It’s the inner court where we often play judge, pronouncing unseen judgments on those around us (not to mention ourselves). God is saying stop! Don’t be wise in your own opinion. To trust in your own opinions is to trust in something that may fail you. God has provided for us a more solid foundation, and we’d do well to follow the example of Jesus.
The bible clearly says in 1 Corinthians 2:15 that, “he who is spiritual judges all things”, so what we are talking about today isn’t that Christians shouldn’t judge. It’s more so that if judgment does comes let it come through the influence of the Holy Spirit or the word of God. You see God wants our hearts and minds to be one with His heart and mind. He’s called us to represent Him on the earth! But in order to do that, we have to learn to withhold judgment so that God can find room in our hearts to reveal His. We have to be careful not covet our own opinions when the ways and thoughts of God are higher than ours. When we give God the judgment seat in our hearts then like Jesus we can say, “I judge no one, but if I do judge my judgment is true; for….I am with the Father…”
Understand that if you have no clear influence from God, you do not have to formulate an opinion. Let God play Judge, and if He isn’t saying anything, you can learn to have no thought at all.
Let us ask for revelation on how oft we secretly play judge; how often we silently slam the gavel in the inner court of our hearts. We might be surprised at how frequently we do it, and how much it was against the law of love. When He reveals this to you, don’t be discouraged, but simply repent of your judgment and ask for His perspective. Transformation starts with a renewed mind; when we let go of ours He will make room for His.