Luke 6:37-42
Judging Others
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
41 “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? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
John 8:1-11
Jesus and the Adulteress
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus teaches us not to judge others or not to condemn others...Do not judge, and you will not be judged...Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned...Forgive, and you will be forgiven...Give, and it will be given to you...A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap...For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you...
When I condemn and judge someone, it because they are less like me and what I believe in...I have forgotten that I have sinned...I am also not forgiving, when this happens...We seem to have our own story and thoughts of how our neighbors and brothers should lead their lives...And if I think about this, how can I possibly know how my neighbor should live or want to live...
If we continue judging and condemning others and do it enough, we really are not doing much in our own lives, but are just being judgmental and critical of others from our own point of view...We also are not forgiving when we are judgmental and critical of others...Jesus says when we do judge and condemn others we will be measured, by how we are judging them...
When Jesus was confronted with a guilty adulteress, He did not condemn or judge her...The angry crowd wanted her to be judged and condemned right then and there...The angry crowd questioned Jesus heavily on the subject of adultery...When the crowd kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”...Then He stooped down and wrote on the ground...At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there beside Him... Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they?... Has no one condemned you?”...“No one, sir,” she said...“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared...“Go now and leave your life of sin.”...
The best thing I might do is to pray for my neighbor that they may not sin in their lives...And pray also that I will be more forgiving...