How to Face Life's ChallengesSample

How to Judge Less, Love More

In a polarised world, it’s hard not to judge people who disagree with us or offend us. Ironically, even though we don’t want to be judged by others, we form perceptions of people all the time, often subconsciously, based on how they look, sound, or behave. We need wisdom to exercise good judgment when deciding whether we should trust people. But far more than that, we need Jesus’ teaching on how to judge less and love more.

When it comes to us judging others, the first thing Jesus points out in Luke 6:37-45 is our limitations. We seldom, if ever, have the full story of someone else’s situation, which may powerfully affect their actions and reactions. You can probably think of a time when finding out more about someone’s circumstances changed your perception of them, and helped you not to judge them, right? Judging others makes us hypocrites because we tend to judge our own conduct based on our motives and intentions, but we judge other people’s conduct based on our perceptions, and then we just fill in the gaps. We’re excellent defence lawyers for our conduct and excellent judges for the conduct of others.

Jesus explains that if you’ve got a plank stuck in your eye, it’s going to be impossibly hard to help someone else get a speck of sawdust out of their eye (Luke 6:41-42). You won’t have the gentleness, precision, or compassion to help someone effectively if you need even more help yourself. To avoid judging others, we need to know our blind spots. Becoming more cognisant of our faults vastly improves our relationships and interactions with people. We all need to get better at putting down the magnifying glass we hold up to others’ lives. Instead, we need to start picking up the mirror.

In Luke 6, Jesus is saying more than just, ‘Don’t judge.’ He’s not saying, ‘Hands off anyone else! It’s none of your business.’ He’s explaining that we need to eradicate hypocrisy and toxic criticism from our lives so that we can draw near to others, show mercy on them, and really help them. This is what Paul talks about in Galatians 6:1: ‘…if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.’

We need God’s help to cleanse our eyes, so we can see people the way He sees them. As you walk closely to Jesus, may His Spirit graciously reveal your blind spots, so you can tenderly come alongside others to help them see theirs. If you’re struggling not to judge certain people, ask God to give you genuine understanding and deep affection for them, and good ideas of ways to love them instead of criticising them. And as Robert Murray M'Cheyne said, ‘For everyone look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.’ Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, judging less and loving more.