Judging vs. Spiritual Evaluation

TEXT: Matthew 7:1-5,15-23; Romans 2:1-3

Have you ever had a foreign object in your eye? It may have been very small, but it still hurt a lot, didn’t it? Jesus warned us about looking for and trying to remove the mote from our brother’s eye when we may have a beam in our own eye. Usually when a person sees too many things wrong with others, he has a serious “eye” problem. Judgment belongs to God. “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).

QUESTIONS

1. What is the meaning of the word judge? How is this word used in the context of Scripture?
2. Jesus strictly forbids judging others. Why do you think He did so?
3. In 1 Corinthians 11:31, we read that we can only judge ourselves. If we faithfully do this in the light of God’s Word, we will escape the condemnation which the world will receive at the Judgment Seat of God. Another reason for self-examination is found in 2 Corinthians 13:5. What is it, and how do we judge ourselves?
4. While we are warned against judging others, the Bible does tell us, “by their fruits ye shall know them.” We can judge ourselves because we have all the information, but we are limited by God’s Word to examining the fruit of another’s life. We need to be careful in our examination of others because we cannot see their motives or the circumstances involved. When might there be a need to be able to recognize the spiritual condition of others?
5. List the points of evaluation you feel should be used in examining the spiritual condition of another’s life.
6. How does the fruit of the Spirit or the lack of it displayed in one’s life indicate his spiritual condition? See Galatians 5:22-26.
7. Think about it: If you subjected yourself to the same type of evaluation that you apply to others, how would you measure up?