Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
—Matthew 7:1
Ninety-year-old Mama Marshall never uttered an unkind word about anyone. When someone was harshly judgmental of another, she always gently said, “Maybe she’s going through a hard period of hurt.”
After advising us not to judge others, Matthew added: “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged” (Mt. 7:2).
The judgmental hardball we throw at others comes right back at us. The judgment we give is the judgment we will receive—from humans and from God: “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge . . . who are you to judge your neighbor?” (Jas 4:12).
Bible commentator John Stott wrote: “If we enjoy occupying the bench, we must not be surprised to find ourselves in the dock.”
If you can’t be positive,
can you at least be quiet?