Read Past “Judge Not”

by Stephanie A. Mayberry

“Judge not.”

Those two words get quoted a lot. Sometimes they are offered as a reminder to show compassion. But many times, they are used to shut down any conversation about sin, correction, or accountability. Someone points out conduct that contradicts Scripture, and the response comes quickly: “The Bible says you’re not supposed to judge.” Unfortunately, this seems to be getting more and more prevalent.

But have you read what comes next?

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

Matthew 7:1–2, KJV

Yeshua did not stop at “Judge not.” He continued with a warning about the judgment you exercise and the measure you use. Before you become comfortable examining someone else’s life, you need to understand that you are accountable for the standard you apply.

That warning deserves a lot more attention than it typically receives.

When Scripture Becomes a Weapon

You have probably seen someone who does not believe the Bible use it to attack someone who does.

“You call yourself a Christian, and you do … but your Bible says …”

What follows is usually some cherry-picked Scripture that is being forced into a meaning that doesn’t fit. That poor Scripture is all too often taken wildly out of context. Usually, it is applied selectively – and misapplied.

Do they ever get it right? It happens. There are times when that person has actually identified a real contradiction between what a believer professes and how that believer behaves.

Now, I’ve written volumes on how believers should walk according to Scripture. That is pretty well covered. For this discussion, though, I’m looking at the person holding the measuring stick.

They are wading into some very treacherous waters. They have no clue what they are doing or what eternal consequences their behavior can bring.

They may reject Scripture’s authority over their own life while insisting that someone else answer to it. They may dismiss its commandments, disregard its warnings, and deny its truth, yet reach for it when they want to expose another person’s failure.

What they may never consider is what Yeshua said about the measure they are using.

If you hold Scripture up to someone else’s life, have you considered what that same measure reveals about yours?

“I don’t believe the Bible” does not cancel the warning or the scriptural truth about the consequences. Yehovah does not need your agreement for His Word to remain true. He cannot lie, and His words do not lose their authority because someone refuses to believe them.

The measure you use will be measured back to you. Your disbelief does not exempt you.

You Do Not Get to Stand Outside the Standard

Imagine insisting that another person be held strictly accountable to a standard, then announcing that the standard has no authority over you.

You expect their conduct to be examined. You want their contradictions exposed. You may even demand consequences for their failure. But when that same examination turns toward your life, your answer is that you never accepted the standard in the first place.

Yeshua’s warning leaves no room for that confidence. I looked. Have you?

Weaponizing Scripture—using it against someone else—does not place you above it. Knowing enough of the Bible to construct an accusation does not mean you have answered for what it says about you.

Paul addresses this kind of self-exemption in Romans 2:1–3. He confronts the person who judges others while practicing the same things, then asks whether that person expects to escape Yehovah’s judgment. The ability to recognize wrongdoing in another person does not excuse it in yourself.

And Yeshua makes the authority of His words clear in John 12:48:

“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

John 12:48, KJV

I want you to see something here. Rejecting His Word does not remove a person from that judgment. The person who refuses to receive it will still answer to it.

That is a sobering thought for someone who considers the Bible useful for condemning a neighbor but irrelevant to their own life.

Keep Reading—There Is a Mirror

Yeshua continues in Matthew 7 by asking a question:

“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?”

Matthew 7:3–4, NKJV

That is quite a picture. A person with a beam obstructing their vision is attempting the delicate work of removing something from someone else’s eye. They are confident enough to intervene while failing to recognize how badly their own condition affects their ability to see.

Yeshua calls that hypocrisy. Then He gives an instruction:

“First cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

Matthew 7:5, KJV

“First.” He didn’t say, “After you correct that other person.” No, He is a God of order, and He established order in this situation. Examine yourself, address your own sin, and then you can see clearly to help that other person.

Help them – not belittle, browbeat, mock, or bully.

Reading beyond “Judge not” brings you face-to-face with personal accountability. You cannot faithfully apply this teaching while keeping the entire conversation focused on someone else.

And that includes the believer being confronted.

If someone identifies real sin in your life, their unbelief does not excuse your disobedience. You cannot dismiss a truthful correction simply because the person delivering it does not follow Yehovah. Examine what was said against Scripture. If it is true, respond appropriately.

The mirror belongs in your hands, too.

Accountability Does Not Give You Permission to Abuse

There is another problem that often enters these conversations: people confuse holding someone accountable with humiliating them.

They mock. They belittle. They search for the most cutting response and gather an audience to enjoy it. Scripture becomes ammunition in a fight that has very little to do with helping anyone obey Yehovah.

Being right about a verse does not excuse being cruel to a person. Being wrong and thinking you are right does not excuse being cruel to a person. In fact, there is no excuse for it, period.

“But he did it first!” That is a game children play. Unfortunately, there are a lot of very large children hiding behind the perceived safety and anonymity of the keyboard. But Yehovah knows.

And if you are doing these things without conviction and repentance, that should scare you.

You are responsible for your conduct, even when someone else is wrong. Their hypocrisy does not authorize yours. Their hostility does not release you from the requirement to exercise self-control.

Someone may be deliberately provoking you. They may twist your words, misrepresent your beliefs, or keep stirring the pot because conflict benefits them. You still have to answer for what you choose to say and do.

“The devil made me do it” does not remove that responsibility. Neither does “They started it.”

You should be mature enough to encounter disagreement without abusing the person who disagrees with you. You can explain your convictions, challenge an accusation, establish a boundary, or leave a conversation. You do not have to keep fighting until someone gives in.

Abusing and belittling people usually produces more defensiveness, more conflict, and a greater divide. If your stated purpose is to address wrongdoing, consider whether your own behavior is adding to it.

Coming at a person with contempt, even if you are right, will not cause them to suddenly mend their ways. It is very likely that quite the opposite will occur. They will be so busy defending themselves from your attack that they won’t have the headspace to even consider your argument.

And when it is wrapped in stinking, ugly, rotten fruit, they aren’t very likely to want it.

Take the Warning Personally

It is easy to read this and think of someone who needs it. Perhaps a particular argument, comment, or accusation came to mind immediately.

But before you send it to that person, let the warning examine you.

What measure do you use when someone else fails? Do you demand an understanding of your circumstances while refusing to consider theirs? Do you expect patience for your growth while treating another person’s failure as proof that they are beyond hope? Do you quote Scripture to expose their disobedience while explaining away your own?

You better be giving these questions some very careful consideration because Yeshua’s warning is true. The measure you use will be measured back to you.

If you do not believe the Bible, you should probably rethink what you are doing when you invoke it against someone else. You may regard it as a convenient argument, but its warnings reach your life as surely as they reach the person you are accusing. Refusing to believe those warnings will not make Judgment Day disappear.

Rejecting Scripture will not erase the fact that you will stand before Yehovah and be judged by it.

¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before ^[a]God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

Revelation 20:12

If you do believe the Bible, then it should be governing the way you address another person’s failure. If you believe the Bible, then you have a responsibility to bear good fruit—to everyone, even the people who don’t agree with you.

Your knowledge of Scripture carries responsibility. The use of Scripture carries responsibility—even if you claim to reject it for yourself.

If you are going to use Scripture when dealing with others, apply it honestly to yourself, receive correction when you need it, and approach others with the humility of someone who must also give an account.

Before you use Scripture to condemn someone else, consider what that same measure says about you—and the impact it has on you.

Read past “Judge not.” Yeshua had more to say—and you need to hear all of it.

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