Condemning people’s motives, labeling them hypocrites, and declaring some of their beliefs and actions to be wrong are all examples of judging others.

In Matthew 7:1, Y’shua (Jesus) commanded his followers, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Some are quick to lessen the scope of this command by pointing out what the Messiah said in John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

However, I still believe that Matthew 7:1 can be followed at face value for the most part. Before you ever judge others, you must first:

1. Judge yourself. Usually the urge to judge others is an indication of a similar failure in your own life that needs to be corrected, i.e. removing the beam from your own eye before commenting on the moat in your brother’s eye.
2. Think righteously. In order to judge righteously, you must be thinking that way. This, to me, is a tall order. What this means is that any time you judge others, you are inviting people to scour your own life to see if you are capable of giving judgment.

What this means, for me at least, is to generally avoid all forms of judging others. Instead, I try to reflect the judgment back on myself and correct my own failures. I believe this is a necessary prerequisite to fulfilling the next condition to think righteously. If I am ever in doubt as to whether I have fulfilled the two conditions for judging others, I err on the side of not judging.

On the occasions that I do feel qualified to judge someone, I try to do two things.

1. Go to them personally. I wouldn’t want someone telling the world all of my failures, and I try to extend the same courtesy to others.
2. Agree with their own judgment. Sometimes people will confide openly that they know they shouldn’t do something as much as they do (e.g. watch TV, oversleep, eat unhealthy food, etc.), but they are not doing anything to change themselves (James 4:17). If I tell them that they are not living consciously and offer some possible solutions, I am only agreeing with the judgment that they have already made of their situation.

Instead of resorting to judgment and condemnation of others, notice the amazing qualities that they do possess, and praise them for those. When you think positively and speak positively, you will generally feel more positive and upbeat about life.