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What the Bible says
What Does the Bible Say About Judging Others?
The Bible warns us not to judge others harshly or hypocritically, calling us to remove the plank from our own eye and to show the mercy we have received.
Jesus taught that the measure we use for others will be measured back to us. He is not forbidding all discernment, but the proud, condemning spirit that overlooks our own faults while magnifying others'.
The Bible calls us to humility and mercy: to examine our own hearts first, to correct gently, and to remember that we all stand in need of grace. Only God sees the whole heart, and judgment belongs to Him.
Key Bible verses
“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 · King James Version (public domain)
“Thou hypocrite, 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 · King James Version (public domain)
“There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
James 4:12 · King James Version (public domain)
“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”
Romans 14:10 · King James Version (public domain)
How this points to Jesus
Jesus, who alone had the right to judge, came not to condemn the world but to save it. He knelt beside the woman everyone was ready to stone and said, neither do I condemn thee. His mercy toward us is the reason we can lay down our stones and extend the same grace to others.