Daily Devotional For Saturday, October 3, 2026
Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from the words of Jesus found in Matthew 7:1-6:
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. (2) For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. (3) “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? (4) How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? (5) Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. (6) “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you” (NLT).
"Do not judge . . “ How many times have you heard this passage? How many times have you referred to this passage when you felt someone was judging you? Everyone refers to this passage in one way or another when they are being judged by another. The word Jesus uses here for “judge” is the Greek New Testament word [κρίνω; krinō]. This word means “to analyze, to size up and to evaluate.” Nothing wrong with that is it? But that is not all. It refers to the person who analyzes, sizes up and evaluates for the person to condemn another.” Hello!
We judge people all the time. We may be in a conversation with someone and they are telling us something. As they do, we watch their body language, eye contact, and listen to their tone to determine if they are being truthful or just lying to us. This is not what Jesus is talking about here. There is nothing wrong in analyzing, sizing up and evaluating if this person has been untruthful in the past. But when we start putting labels on someone, we have crossed the line.
All relationships are built on two pillars: truth and trust. We trust people who are truthful and those who lie, we do not trust them. As they speak to us, our radar is up and we are suspicious if this is just another con game. Jesus who gave us Matthew 7:1 also gave us Matthew 10:16,
“Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be wary (wise, shrewd, and prudent) and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves” (AMP-C). When we judge (krino), it is often accompanied with anger. Jesus’ point is He will have that anger boomerang on you. You will become a person who is always fault-finding, angry and judgmental. All of these will kill the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) in your life, especially the fruit of joy.
When we read the Sermon On The Mound, we get some great verses and quotes by Jesus such as: “Oh you of little faith . . . Let your light shine . . . every jot and tittle . . . . turn the other cheek . . . where your treasure is, your heart will be also . . . don’t cast your pearls to swine . . . you cannot serve both God and mammon (money) . . . seek and you will find and judge not or you will be judged.” Jesus commands us not to judge with condemnation because:
- We are not God. There is no way for us to know all the facts. Only God can see fully into the human heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Much of this type of judging is based on the eternals.
- We can never be fully objective because we are sinful, broken, hurt, and prejudiced people who judge based on our own subjectivity.
- When we judge like this, we have made ourselves God. We lie to ourselves and worship ourselves as knowing that person on the level of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus told His disciples to use discernment, not to be naive and to “test the spirits” to see if they are from God. When we see a false prophet, a false preacher, we are commanded to call them out. We have a biblical mandate to call out church members (believers) who are living sinful lives with no desire to repent (1 Cor. 5:11-13). Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:
“What Jesus is condemning in the Sermon on the Mount is a judgmental, negative, haughty attitude that assesses others with a suspicious spirit. People who have such an attitude are always on the hunt for faults, mistakes, or imperfections in others. And they find them! There are always petty flaws and failures to be exposed. They do this out of an attitude of superiority, presumption, prejudice, and pride. The result is a destructive, condemning attitude and a blindness to one’s own faults. This is the glaring hypocrisy that Jesus emphasizes here” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Bible Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, p. 126).
When we judge (krino) another, we not only hurt them, we hurt ourselves. How? First, Jesus said the very same standard we use to judge another will be used on us (Matt. 7:1-2). Whatever you dish out, will come back to bite you. Second, a hypocritical and condemning attitude of others will result in our own condemnation before God the Father (Rom. 2:1; Rom. 3:23).
To teach His disciples and us how wrong it is for us to judge (krino) another, He used a funny, exaggerated illustration to get this point across to show how ridiculous this is. Here you are walking around with the telephone phone coming out of your eyes and you really think you can see a speck in another person’s eyes. No way. It would be impossible for you to see anything.
Notice Jesus did not tell us we should mind our own business when we see another believer engaging in sin, especially unrepentant sin. We should never say, “Who am I to judge . . .?” Jesus supported the rightness of wanting to help another brother or sister overcome a sin in their life. And we should welcome the same in our own lives. We should never say, “Keep your nose out of my business” or “Who are you to judge me?”
Reflection Assignment: Are you a judgmental, fault-finding, labeling person who has logs coming out of your own eyes? If so, why do you presume you are God? To refuse to repent and change from this is spit in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can discern, but not be stern thinking you earned the right to play God. What do you need to do to do what Jesus says here and when will you start?
Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 14:10-13, “So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. (11) For the Scriptures say,‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to Me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’ (12) Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. (13) So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I am so sorry when I judge (krino) others. I am so sorry when I assume your role, thinking I am able to read into another person’s heart. I am a sinner and all my judging (krino) is attempting to convince me that I am better than others. There is no one who is good (Rom. 3:10-18). This includes me. I confess my sin and repent from it. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly